Ferriday teen charged with murder
Published 10:07 pm Thursday, March 15, 2007
A Ferriday teen has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his parents and another teenage boy.
But the facts behind the killings are murky.
Connor Wood, 15, allegedly called 911 at 3:41 a.m. Wednesday and told police that a 16-year-old intruder — Matt Whittington — had shot and killed Wood’s parents. Wood said he heard the shots, found a gun and killed Whittington.
Later in the day, Wood changed his statement, saying the two boys had planned to kill the Wood couple, according to a Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office release. Once his parents were dead, Wood reported that he killed Whittington.
John and Jerri Wood were allegedly sleeping in their Woodland Subdivision house when the shootings occurred.
Connor Wood faces three counts of first-degree murder.
Wood has been home schooled since last attending Huntington School in third-grade. Whittington, a student at Cathedral School, lived in the neighborhood.
The teens are listed as friends on the social networking Web site Facebook.com, and frequently posted messages on one another’s Web pages.
A Feb. 12 posting by Wood on Whittington’s page included the image of a gun created with keyboard symbols.
Ferriday Police Chief Richard Madison said the investigation was ongoing.
He would not comment on the details of the case, but Leslie Jackson, the next door neighbor of the Whittington family, said the boys’ computers had been confiscated by police.
Madison would not comment on the weapon or weapons used in the killings.
Concordia Parish Coroner Sarah Lee declared all three victims dead at the scene, the Wood house on Shady Lane.
Autopsies will be done on all three bodies.
The Ferriday Police Department, Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office are investigating the case. The involvement of multiple agencies is routine in cases of this magnitude, Madison said.
John Wood, who worked in the hunting and farming industry, was 46. His wife Jerri was 40.