On a sweltering summer morning in the tiny Southern town of Cottonport, Louisiana, tragedy struck the Ducote family on June 28, 2014. Steve and Missy Ducote awoke to a nightmare they could never have imagined. Their youngest daughter, Megan Parra, had been found lying unconscious on the floor of her home, blood pooling around her head. At just 29 years old, Megan, a mother to two young boys, appeared to have been shot in a shocking and violent incident.
- Megan Parra found shot in her home.
- Family expressed doubts about suicide ruling.
- Dustin Parra's alibi was inconsistently reported.
- Evidence suggested possible struggle before shooting.
- Dustin pleaded guilty to negligent homicide.
- Autopsy report later changed to homicide.
Steve Ducote vividly recalls the moment. “I wouldn’t know how to tell you. I’ve never felt like that before or since,” he said, encapsulating the devastation that engulfed their family. The couple learned from a state trooper that Megan had been involved in a car accident just a day earlier. She had only minor injuries but was found unresponsive at home with a gunshot wound to the head. The weapon? A .357 Magnum handgun registered to her husband, Dustin Parra.
The events leading up to that fateful morning were still fresh. Dustin had informed Steve that Megan had experienced a troubling accident, driving alone and inadvertently careening off the road. “Dustin called and said that Megan had been in an accident,” Missy recalled. Despite the accident, the family believed she had recovered; however, her fate would soon take a chilling turn. The couple raced to their daughter’s house and stumbled upon a scene that would haunt them forever.
Megan lay on her living room floor, a hospital paper shirt and underwear clinging to her as Missy knelt beside her, desperate to assess her pulse. “She was breathing … just barely, though,” said Missy, who is a nurse practitioner. As the harrowing hours unfolded, Steve dialed 911, while Missy attempted to administer first aid. “I grabbed the oldest boy. And when I leaned over to pick him up, I saw the gun kind of tucked against her leg,” he recounted, piecing together the horrifying tableau.
When Dustin arrived, he pushed the firearm away from her body and reached into Megan’s shirt, pulling out a small picture of their sons. The couple administered aid until paramedics arrived, yet the tragedy deepened as the family was informed that Megan had suffered a fatal gunshot wound.
What followed was a series of investigations and autopsies. Initially, the medical examiner ruled her death a suicide, stating that the gun had been in direct contact with Megan’s temple. However, the Ducote family could not accept this conclusion, voicing serious doubts about the circumstances surrounding her death. “She had never shot a gun. Never fooled with a gun. Wouldn’t have known how to hold a gun,” Steve asserted, questioning how his daughter could take her own life in such a brutal manner, especially knowing her loved ones would find her.
Complicating the case were discrepancies in Dustin’s alibi regarding his whereabouts during the time of the shooting. While he claimed to be at a Walmart, family and neighbors reported hearing what they believed were gunshots at different times that morning, raising questions about the timeline of events.
As the months progressed, the Ducote family continued to lobby for a thorough investigation. Questions emerged regarding the integrity of the original investigation, particularly centered around lead detective Christopher Knight, who claimed Megan’s fingerprints were on the gun yet had never conducted essential tests on the weapon. Over time, Steve Ducote grew increasingly frustrated as investigators overlooked contradictions in Dustin’s statements and failed to pursue vital leads.
In July 2017, a judge agreed to reopen the case at the behest of the Ducote family. Major questions remained unanswered. Why hadn’t the investigation followed through on examining potential domestic abuse within Megan and Dustin’s relationship? Witnesses recounted conversations of trouble brewing in the marriage, while neighbors recalled unsettling noises coming from the Parra house in the days leading up to Megan’s death.
For years, Steve Ducote worked tirelessly to piece together a clearer picture of what he believed was foul play. In 2021, his efforts paid off when forensic experts found blood-spatter evidence on Dustin’s clothing that suggested he had been present when the gun discharged. This evidence contrasted sharply with the initial ruling of suicide.
Finally, in March 2023, days before a scheduled murder trial, Dustin Parra pleaded no contest to negligent homicide, admitting to an accident during an argument. “Your marriage to her was a struggle for the last couple of months of her life, correct?” attorney Charles Riddle confirmed in court. Dustin’s acknowledgment of a struggle, alongside the admission that he had the gun in hand when it discharged, was a significant moment for the Ducote family. This admission ultimately led to a long-awaited change in Megan’s death certificate from suicide to homicide, providing her family with a semblance of justice.
While Dustin Parra was released on parole not long after, Steve and Missy Ducote expressed their commitment to raising Megan’s sons, ensuring that the memory of their mother would live on in their hearts. “She’d say, take care of those boys, and probably say thanks for not giving up,” Steve reflected, as the family takes solace in the truth that had been uncovered amidst the turmoil.
As the story unfolds, questions about Megan’s death remain poignant; the investigation that once faltered now serves as a testament to a family’s tenacity to seek justice and the painful journey through love, loss, and the unyielding search for truth.
