Family tragedy claims 3 lives

Celebrations of life will be held for Carla Watford, 39, and her daughters, Julia, 16, and Jayia Watford, 9, at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ardoin’s Funeral Home Chapel in Eunice.
The mother shot her two daughters before setting their home on fire and then taking her own life early Sunday morning, State Fire Marshal H. “Butch” Browning Jr. said Monday at a news conference at the Eunice City Hall.
“It is a very sad occasion that we are here at the Eunice Municipal complex to put out some information on a very tragic incident that occurred in this city yesterday,” Browning said. “The Eunice Fire Department responded to a residential fire. Upon their arrival, they discovered the bodies of three people in that home. As a matter of routine, the Eunice Police Department called the state fire marshal’s office in to investigate to find the cause of these deaths.”
Watford and her daughters, the eldest a junior at Eunice High School, were found dead in a bed in the home’s master bedroom.
At 12:47 a.m. Sunday, the Eunice Fire Department responded to a residential fire at 750 S. 4th St., after a police officer noticed the fire. When firefighters arrived, the home was largely engulfed in flames, and during the search and rescue efforts, the firefighters discovered the three bodies.
Officials from the state fire marshal’s office arrived at the scene Monday morning to investigate the cause of the fire and investigators were still in the city on Wednesday following up on leads.
Browning said preliminary reconstructions of the scene indicated that the fire was started just outside the master bedroom of the home, where all three bodies were found. Browning also said that the mother likely killed the children in the bedroom and then set the fire, but that would have to be confirmed by the coroner following autopsies. The fire marshal also said that it appeared the mother took her own life with the weapon recovered at the scene, but that too would have to be confirmed during an autopsy.
“We are doing this press conference a little earlier than we normally do,” Brown said. “We are pretty confident with what happened. There are a lot of rumors, questions were going on across the city. We have lots of information to gather.”
A letter believed to have been written by Carla Watford was among the recovered evidence, as well as a .38-caliber handgun. All evidence will be processed at the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab in Baton Rouge, Browning said.
The scene was released Monday evening, and autopsies were conducted on the three victims Wednesday morning, said Deputy Chief Brant Thompson with the state fire marshals office,
“All three victims died as a result of a gunshot wound or wounds to the head,” Thompson said. “The 16-year-old died as the result of a single gunshot wound to the head, and the 9-year-old died as a result of two gunshot wounds to the head. The mother died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.”
Carla Watford purchased the gun and 50 rounds of ammunition nine days prior to the incident, and no one else had knowledge that Watford had purchased the firearm or ammunition, Thompson said.
Watford’s husband, Billy R. Watford, was out of town at work the night of the incident.
“We contacted him at work, and it took him some time to make his way back to Eunice,” Thompson said. “There was some talk that they (the couple) were estranged, but they were still married and together. He had recently been at the home.”
Thompson confirmed that family pets had been relocated from the home prior to the incident, and instructions for their care and medication had been left by Carla Watford.
“I have to say this is a very tragic situation certainly for the family, certainly for the city and certainly for the first responders who had to respond and do their best but to no avail these three deaths occurred,” Browning said. “Many things are very unexplainable. Many things we as first responders see every day take a very big toll on us and certainly this scene is one of those.”
Browning added, “I was personally there today as family members and friends came by and brought flowers, brought gifts and put balloons on trees in remembrance of this mother and her children. It seems these children were very much a part of this community, attended home school and many church groups, meetings and what not, so it’s very, very sad. We believe that every family deserves answers as to what happened and there are still a lot of answers that are yet to be determined.”
Browning said that investigators were speaking with witnesses who knew the family and their pasts, and he spoke of the office’s respectfulness for the family members as well as the community’s need for time to adjust to the tragedy.
“Obviously something led up to this late Sunday morning, so give us some time to complete our investigation,” he added.
Eunice Police Chief Randy Fontenot said, “This is such a sad and tragic day for Eunice,” Fontenot said. “We lost three young ladies who had roots and ties to this community. What I want to do today is bring a message to you and the family: Carla was not a bad person. She was a good mother. What led her to do this, we will never know but she was the mother of two children she loved very much and these children were good children, good girls. They had a future in this community and with their lives.”
Fontenot asked the community to respect the wishes of the family and allow them time to grieve.
“Do keep that in mind, they do appreciate all the voices of concern and the prayers that have been lifted up for the family,” Fontenot said.
Eunice Fire Chief Mike Arnold took the time to extend his thanks to the Acadia Parish Fire District 4, St. Landry Fire District 6, the Mamou, Branch and Richard fire departments and the Eunice Police Department.
“The Eunice police department actually had officers on the end of a fire hose at our initial arrival. Great job guys. Thank y’all,” Arnold said.
“Like Chief Butch said, it was traumatic. Our firefighters found those bodies first off. It puts a shock on us, too. Please keep all the first responders in your prayers. We need all the help we can get,” he said.
Monday morning, the marquee sign in front of Eunice High School, where Julia was a student read, “Julia Watford Forever a Bobcat.”
“She was a very sweet, quiet, kind student,” said principal Mitchell Fontenot. “She was always smiling. She will be missed by students and teachers. She was the epitome of a what a Eunice High Bobcat should be. She always did the right thing, going to class, making good grades.”
The EHS Class of 2017 held a balloon release for the young lady last night at the Northwest Community Center.
To contact Claudette Olivier, email claudette.olivier@eunicetoday.com.