Elmwood, Louisiana murder-suicide leaves Meridian Thomas Woodson, mom of two dead & ex Westwego husband dead after shooter initially surviving turning gun on himself in parking lot only to later die. No known motive.
An attempted murder-suicide at an Elmwood, Louisiana home has left a mother of two dead and her ex-husband critically wounded, only for the suspect shooter to later die.
Meridian Woodson, 28, was shot and killed by her former spouse, Kody Woodson, 30, of Westwego before he turned the gun on himself at an Elmwood parking lot Thursday morning.
Woodson was pronounced dead inside her apartment at the Palmetto Creek apartment complex, in the 5100 block of Citrus Boulevard. She was the mother of two girls, ages 4 and 7, according to New Orleans authorities.
Elmwood, Louisiana murder-suicide leaves mom of two dead & ex husband dead
Deputies were dispatched to Woodson’s residence just after 10 a.m. after they received a 911 call reporting a disturbance there. Upon arriving they found Woodson suffering from at least one gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene, NOLA reported.
Deputies began searching the area for the suspect and found his vehicle, a silver extended cab GMC pickup truck, in the parking lot of a shopping center at 5151 Citrus Blvd., the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office stated in a release.
The alleged killer had a self-inflicted gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital. Authorities said the man’s truck was parked away from other vehicles in the shopping center.
The truck’s four doors were open, and blood could be seen dripping from the driver’s side into a large puddle on the ground. The vehicle was eventually towed from the scene.
No known motive
Investigators declined to publicly identify Woodson’s former husband, a 30-year-old Westwego man who was hospitalized in critical condition after Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators stated he shot himself in the parking lot of a shopping center next door to his ex-wife’s apartment complex.
Come Friday morning, a spokesperson for JPSO gave an update stating that the suspect in the case was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Stated Star Boquet in a Facebook post: ‘Now Lileigh & Paisley are without both their mother and father. Pray for Meridian Thomas Woodson and pray for her precious girls. 
‘I will miss you but know those girls will be loved and taken care of. They will always know who their GEM of a mother was.’
Elmwood is an unincorporated Jefferson Parish community located just west of New Orleans along the Jefferson Highway and Clearview Parkway commercial corridor.
The investigation remains ongoing.
