Life in Prison: Callihan’s Guilty Plea Brings First Step Toward Justice For Mississippi and Louisiana Victims
August 26th, 2025
(Jackson, MS) Hinds County District Attorney Jody E. Owens, II, announced that Daniel Wayne Callihan, 37, pled guilty in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana to two federal felony charges: (1) Kidnapping Resulting in Death and (2) Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity.
Under the terms of his federal plea agreement, prosecutors will not seek the death penalty and Callihan agrees to serve a minimum sentence of life imprisonment. Sentencing is scheduled for November 19, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Lance Africk. District Attorney Owens, along with Chief Assistant District Attorney McBride, traveled to New Orleans to ensure the voices of the victims of Callihan’s Mississippi victims were heard in the Louisiana federal plea hearing.
This plea stems from the brutal June 13, 2024, crimes in Loranger, Louisiana, where Callihan fatally stabbed 35-year-old Callie Brunett more than 50 times, killing her inside her home, before abducting her two daughters, ages four and six. He transported the two minors to Mississippi, picked up co-defendant Victoria Cox, and later purposely suffocated the four-year old to death by holding her tightly against his chest. U.S. Marshals later discovered both children hours later in a pit behind a residence in Jackson, Mississippi, the four-year old deceased, and her old sister injured but alive. Evidence confirmed the surviving child had been sexually assaulted by Callihan and Cox.
In addition to his federal guilty plea in Louisiana, Callihan faces capital murder charges in Hinds County, Mississippi, and first-degree murder charges in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, along with related kidnapping and sexual battery charges. District Attorney Owens is working closely with Tangipahoa Parish District Attorney Scot Perrilloux and multiple law enforcement agencies to ensure Callihan faces full accountability in every jurisdiction.
“What Daniel Callihan did to these children is the very embodiment of evil,” said District Attorney Jody E. Owens, II. “These were innocent lives, full of promise, stolen in the most brutal way imaginable. Last week’s plea is a step, but make no mistake, we will pursue justice in every courtroom, in every jurisdiction, until he is held fully accountable under the law. These children, their mother, and their communities deserve nothing less.”
The Mississippi proceedings will continue later this month when Callihan is transported to Jackson to enter a plea in Hinds County Circuit Court. A separate media advisory will be issued for that hearing. This case remains an ongoing multi-jurisdictional prosecution, involving federal charges in Louisiana, state charges in Louisiana, and state charges in Mississippi.
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JODY E. OWENS, II
