'It's truly inhumane': Bella Fontnelle's family say six-year-old's death has 'destroyed' them
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers' discretion advised
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: The family of a young girl who was allegedly strangled, packed into a chlorine drum and dumped in her mother's yard condemned the "senseless and horrible act" that they claimed has irreparably damaged their family. The body of Bella Fontnelle, six, was discovered inside a drum outside her mother Jennifer Zeledon's home in Harahan, Louisiana, on Wednesday, April 26, just hours after her father, Michael, reported her and his girlfriend, Hannah Landon, missing.
Jefferson Parish officials reportedly suspect Landon, 43, murdered Fontnelle at the home she was sharing with him nearby. They reportedly said that Landon put the girl's body on a wagon intended for a child and brought it over to Zeledon's house on Tuesday night, April 25, after stuffing it into a 10-gallon chlorine bucket and covering it with a lid. The revelation shook the neighborhood and the nation as a whole, and the family is devastated.
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Hannah Landon arrested
A surveillance video from that evening showed a woman casually pushing a wagon with a plastic bucket on it in the direction of Zeledon's residence. She wore black pants, a red top and tall white boots in the video. Since then, Landon, also known as Bunnak Lim and Bunnak Landon, has been arrested without bail on suspicion of first-degree murder and obstruction of justice in Fontnelle's death, as per Daily Mail.
Who is Bella Fontnelle's aunt?
Fontnelle's death has left her entire family devastated. "This senseless and heinous act has forever destroyed my family," Bianca Cano, the child's aunt, wrote in a GoFundMe for Zeledon, her sister. "No words can describe the pain that is running through our bodies. It's truly inhumane," she continued.
'You were beyond perfection'
Cano called her young niece "an amazing little soul" who was tragically taken from her too soon. She wrote in the description for the online fundraiser, "The world is so unjust." Cano continued, seemingly addressing Fontnelle, "You were given to us or six amazing years. You were beyond perfection. Your beautiful little voice, your funny personality, the way you danced, the way you were so delicate and fragile, your smile, your laugh, the way you expressed yourself. I can go on and on about how amazing this little soul was." She continued by thanking "everyone again from the bottom of our hearts during these horrible, trying days." "No person should ever go through what we are going through [much] less a mother and father having to lay to rest a child." The fundraiser has already raised over $30,000 to cover the young girl's funeral costs.
What do the police say?
Police Chief Ed Lepre reportedly said that his department was pursuing justice for the young child. "We're going to work to the end to make sure we get a conviction," he told FOX 8, adding, "This is a small baby and any family would be devastated. I could only imagine what the mother and father are going through right now."