Man arrested after manhunt in deadly Louisiana stabbing spree

A Louisiana man has been arrested in connection with a grisly stabbing spree that left four people dead and one in critical condition, officials said. Kaegan Jude Solet, 47, of Houma, was arrested Sunday, the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office said. Authorities searched for Solet over the weekend after they identified him as a person of interest in Friday’s spate of stabbings in Houma, a city about 55 miles east of New Orleans, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies initially found a child with apparent stab wounds, who was taken by air ambulance to a hospital and remains in critical condition, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies then discovered “multiple deceased victims” inside nearby homes. At least four were killed. The stabbing spree was not a “random act of violence,” Lt. Blake Tabor, a sheriff’s spokesperson, told NBC News. He said there “is a link” between Solet and the victims but did not disclose it. Tabor told NBC affiliate WDSU of New Orleans that the child who was stabbed remains “in critical condition but stable.” “We do believe that he will pull through, but again, this is a day-to-day thing,” Tabor told the station. The investigation continues. Records show that Solet was previously a suspect in at least two other stabbings, one of which was fatal. He was arrested in January 2019 by the same sheriff’s office on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Kemple Paul Scott Lovell, described by local news reports at the time as a homeless man. The charge was dropped after a grand jury declined to indict him, according to court records. A public defender was appointed to represent him. Then, in December 2019, Solet was arrested in connection with the stabbing of a 59-year-old woman in a hotel room. The woman survived. He was tried by a jury on attempted second-degree murder, court records show, and was ultimately found not guilty, aHouma Today reported at the time. NBC News has reached out to his attorney in that case for comment. Solet has a history of arrests dating back 1997 and as recently as 2025 — when he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to six months with credit for time served, court records show.