Family of Suspect in Massacre that Killed Baby, 10-Year-Old Wanted Him Committed to Hospital the Day Before

The suspect that allegedly killed three members of the same family last week was reportedly having a mental health crisis the day before, but was denied a stay at the hospital, family members say. 

Rhonda Powell, 40, her 10-year-old son Braylon and her 1-year-old nephew Hayden were allegedly stabbed to death in an Amite, La., home on Thursday, Jan. 9, the St. Helena Parish Sheriff’s Department said last week. 

The victims were not named in the sheriff’s statement, but have since been identified in a GoFundMe and several news outlets, including WAFB. 

Ryant Jones, 31, was arrested in connection with the killings and charged with murder, per the sheriff’s office. 

Jones was related to the victims, their family said in the GoFundMe, and suffered from schizophrenia. 

He had reportedly been “experiencing a mental health episode” and was brought to a medical center for help the day before the killings, the family says. 

Deondra Robertson-Warner, Powell’s cousin, told WAFB that family members “requested that they commit him and that they keep him because he was showing signs of aggression with his brother. They didn’t think it was a good idea to send him home.” 

A family member also “pleaded with or implored that the doctor give him the shot which usually works. Instead, the doctor gives him a pill,” Robertson-Warner said. Jones was then sent home. 

“No one in that home survived because the mental health system failed him,” she told the outlet. “Had he been committed; he would be where he needed to be today, and my other family members would be alive…those babies would be alive.” 

The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comments on these claims.

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Jones has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, per the sheriff’s office. 

Plea and attorney information for Jones was not immediately available.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.