On October 29, 2021, 24-year-old April Edmisson Bardwell and her eight-month-old daughter, Riley, were found dead in their Monroe, Louisiana home on Old Sterlington Road from apparent gunshot wounds. Deputies arriving at the scene found both victims in a large pool of blood.

April’s husband and Riley’s father, Blake Bardwell, was at the residence when law enforcement arrived. He was taken into custody, admitted to shooting his wife and daughter, and was charged with two counts of second-degree murder. A Ouachita Parish grand jury returned an indictment in January 2022; Bardwell later pleaded guilty and received two life sentences.

April was a critical care nurse and her high school salutatorian. If anyone knew April, Riley, or the family and has information that wasn’t part of the case, please share what you remember.