Seven years after a mother and daughter were murdered in New Orleans, police announce the arrest of 2 suspects

Two men have been arrested in connection to a seven-year-old murder of a mother and daughter in New Orleans, police said.

Around 3:15 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2013, police responded to calls of shots fired at the Wild Run Apartments in New Orleans.

Authorities said they found one woman who had been shot and stabbed to death in the parking lot. Another woman was reportedly found inside the apartment dead from gunshot wounds to the head.

Both women were pronounced dead at the scene.

The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office later identified the two women as 45-year-old Lisa Arbuthnot and 20-year-old Ryesha Arbuthnot.

Authorities believed the attack was not random.

“Between say 3:00 something and 4:00, I heard a pop, pop and I heard another young lady screaming and hollering,” neighbor Michelle Jordan told WWL TV on the night of the murders.

'The guy was on top of the girl, just stabbing her,' said a neighbor named Cheri. 'That's all I really know about it.'

Homicide Detectives reportedly identified two men as the alleged perpetrators in this incident, according to a statement released by NOPD. 

Detectives obtained arrest warrants for the two suspects on April 23, 2021. Polie did not say why it took seven years to arrest the suspects. Investigators also did not release a motive for the alleged murders.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested David H. Wisham Sr. and Kenneth W. Jones Jr. on June 4.

The two men were transported from East Baton Rouge Parish to the Orleans Parish Justice Center, where each was booked with two counts of second-degree murder.