DANIEL TYLER GOODEN

PHOTO: ST. JAMES SHERIFF Willy Martin Jr., at left, calms an anxious neighbor outside the Texas Street residence in Lutcher where a couple were shot and killed some time Wednesday night. The son of the slain man was charged Thursday night with two counts of first-degree murder. (Staff Photo by Daniel Tyler Gooden) LUTCHER – No one knows why 14-year-old Ryan Caldarera allegedly shot and killed his father and stepmother late Wednesday night. His 6-year-old half-sister, left unharmed during the ambush, was then left alone to open the front door for Lutcher police officers Thursday morning. The youth was charged Thursday night with two counts of first-degree murder, according to St. James Parish Sheriff Willy Martin Jr. The Lutcher Junior High seventh-grader is now being held at the St. James Youth Center near Donaldsonville. Officers found the two victims in their bedroom. Victor “Sonny” Caldarera Jr., 35, was still in his bed, and his wife Tracy Caldarera, 27, was lying on the floor. Officers responded to a 9-1-1 call at 10 a.m. Thursday after a co-worker came looking for Caldarera when he didn’t show up for work, said Martin. After no one responded at the front door the employee looked through the windows and saw Tracy Caldarera lying on the floor. When officers arrived at the house at 2390 Texas St., the couple’s 6-year-old daughter let them into the residence. The child seemed fine and said her brother had gone to get the cops, according to neighbor Hazel Schaubhut. The child was taken to a local hospital, where she was attended by medical personnel and a relative, according to the sheriff. When the sheriff’s department arrived on the scene a call was put out to watch for the family’s Jeep Cherokee, which was missing from the driveway. Deputies spotted the Ryan Caldarera driving in Paulina around 1 p.m, according to Martin. Instead of pulling over for the deputies Caldarera began to flee. He headed down Louisiana Highway 3125 and turned onto Grand Point Road. “He headed into the Grand Point neighborhood, evading several roadblocks,” said Martin. One sheriff’s vehicle was disabled and others were damaged as Caldarera crashed into the deputies in his attempt to escape. His flight ended in Bourbon subdivision, where he got stuck trying to cross a ditch. Though he left the vehicle and ran, officers chased him down on foot. Several guns were in the Jeep, said Martin. Caldarera, who was not identified by Martin but by neighbors, was taken into custody and held at the parish jail in Convent. He will be transferred to the St. James Parish Youth Detention Facility if he is to be held for an extended period of time, he added. Caldarera was not immediately arrested, though “we feel strongly that he was involved in this,” said Martin. Law officers concentrated on examining the scene of the crime for most of the day while getting search warrants for the vehicle. Neighbors said the teen-ager had given the family trouble in the past. “He had wrecked the Jeep. He took it and would always drive to Grand Point,” said Schaubhut. “They tried to help him.” Nothing seemed out of the ordinary Wednesday night. Neighbors saw Victor Caldarera working on his truck until 11 p.m. “I never heard any shots in the night,” said Schaubhut. She first noticed something was strange when she left her house at 7:45 a.m. She said Victor Caldarera usually left for work at 5:30 a.m, but his vehicle was still in the driveway. Tracy Caldarera should also have been gone, she said, as she usually sat from 7 to 2 p.m. with an old neighbor who recently moved to Garyville. Schaubhut said she did see Ryan Caldarera loading up the Jeep as she was headed off to church. The Caldareras had only lived in the neighborhood a few years. Most neighbors found them to be a quiet family that kept to themselves, and many said they knew the teen-ager had been troublesome for the family. Most said he seemed to be a quiet kid, but they never really knew him personally. All the neighbors were shocked such a crime could occur along their small street. Lutcher Police Chief Denny Vicknair lives only one street over in the small neighborhood. “This is a very sad situation, especially with such a young child involved,” said Vicknair. With such a violent crime occurring in such a small town, “it will be talked about for a long time,” he added. Vicknair has been police chief for eight years and in the department since 1977. He admitted he had never seen any crime like this one, which has shaken up the town of Lutcher. As of Friday morning Ryan Caldarera had not been charged. According to his lawyer, Dale Petit, he can be held under the state’s juvenile code for three days without being charged. The first hearing on the case is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday in Convent.