The Silent Victim: Jori Lirette

Jori Lirette was born on April 8, 2004, to parents Jesslyn Lirette and Jeremiah Lee Wright in the quiet town of Thibodaux, Louisiana. From the very beginning, it was clear that Jori was different, and his arrival into the world was anything but ordinary. Born three months premature, he faced an uphill battle from the start, diagnosed with cerebral palsy and heart problems that would require lifelong care. Jori’s condition meant that he relied on a feeding tube for nourishment and a wheelchair for mobility.

By 2011, Jori was seven-years-old and a second-grade student at South Thibodaux Elementary School where he was well-known and adored by his teachers and classmates alike. Principal Diane Smith spoke fondly of him, saying: “Everyone loved him. Even though he could not express in words his feelings to us, he did it with his smile.”

Jori had simple pleasures that brought him immense joy. He loved the taste of cherry lollipops, the root beer, ice cream, and chocolate-chip cookies. His eyes would light up at the sight of bright colours, and his family said that he loved all kinds of animals. Jori weighed no more than 50 pounds, and his physical limitations meant that he could only speak a few words. For his mother, Jesslyn, Jori was the center of her universe. “He was my star,” she said. “He was always the top priority in my life.”¹

On August 14, 2011, a man was walking down a residential street in Thibodaux when something unusual caught his eye. Just outside a modest single-family home, there was an object lying on the ground. At first, he couldn’t quite make out what it was, but as he drew closer, a chilling realisation struck him—it was a human head. Shocked and horrified, the man immediately dialled 911.

When the police arrived at the scene, they were confronted with a nightmare. It was the head of a little boy. When they approached the home the head was placed outside, they found Jeremiah Lee Wright covered in blood. He was calm, disturbingly so, as if the horror around him was nothing out of the ordinary. He made no attempt to flee or resist as he was taken into custody.

Inside the home, the police discovered the full extent of the tragedy. In a trash can, officers found what remained of Jori’s small, body. His lower body, legs, and one forearm were stuffed inside, alongside his torso. When Jesslyn returned home, she found it surrounded in crime scene tape and police vehicles. When she identified herself, a captain and minister told her that her son had been killed and dismembered, and Wright was the main suspect.

At the family home, forensic experts were called. They found evidence to suggest that Jori had been decapitated over the kitchen sink with a meat cleaver. Jori’s body was transported to the medical examiner’s office where it was found that he had been bludgeoned, decapitated and dismembered. He had been hit with a heavy object with such force that it had caused “excessive bleeding in the head.”²

After Wright was arrested, he waived his right to an attorney and made a full and detailed confession to the murder of his son. He told detectives that on the morning of the murder, Jesslyn had left the home to have her truck repaired so she could take Jori to the doctor that afternoon. He said that he killed Jori about 30 minutes after Jesslyn left the home. He said that he had left Jori’s head outside the home so that Jesslyn would see it when she arrived back home. He said that he “wanted her to feel stupid when she saw the head.”

During the confession, Wright never discussed a motivation. According to Jesslyn, however, while they had been together for ten years, she had planned to leave him for some time. “I didn’t get out fast enough,” she said. The police had been called to the family’s home a month before after they got into an argument about money, although neither pressed charges in the end. Wright had also been arrested a few times in the past, but none of the charges were ever violent in nature.

Jesslyn told detectives that she had recently told Wright that she was kicking him out of their home. She further revealed that Wright had talked about killing Jori before. In a sworn statement from September of 2004, Jesslyn had said that Wright wanted six-month-old Jori dead. She said he had called her saying “he was tired of seeing the baby suffer and wanted him dead and that I needed to do something about his suffering and end it all.” Wright then hung up, but he called back and told Jesslyn he loved her but “still felt the same about the baby.”³

Mark Chatagnier, a friend of Wright’s, had his own theory behind the motivation. He commented in the media that Wright was unemployed, and Jesslyn often left him to care for Jori, even when she wasn’t working. “She would take off and totally expect Jerry to do everything,” he said. Once Mark’s comments made it back to Jesslyn, she denied that this was the case. She said that she cared for another disabled person to pay the household bills, and was still around to care for her son. However, when detectives spoke further with Wright, he said he had gotten to the point where he was “tired” of taking care of his disabled son.

The family’s home became a makeshift memorial that grew with each passing day. People who knew and loved Jori and strangers alike left down candles, toys, and cards of condolences which eventually extended five feet beyond each side of the house.⁴ On 22 August, some 500 people came together for a candlelight vigil in Peltier Park in Jori’s memory. Jesslyn emotionally read aloud a letter to her son: “In heaven they say there is no pain, no illness. People say you’re walking up there now, and I believe them. I just can’t wait to see it myself.”⁵

Jori’s funeral was the next day at St. Genevieve Catholic Church. It was an open casket, with Jesslyn commenting: “The funeral home did a good job. They made him look like he was just sleeping.” Jori was dressed in a red and grey shirt over a white, long-sleeved turtleneck. From the church, a hearse took Jori to the nearby cemetery. Nearby, a dozen motorcycle riders revved their engines. The family had requested the escort because Jori loved to hear the motorcycles start. Jori was then buried in an aboveground crypt with the epitaph: “No words… Just a smile.”⁶

On August 27, Wright was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder. Some more details about Wright’s confession were revealed. He had told detectives that he had recently realised that he wasn’t actually caring for his son but instead a CPR dummy.⁷ He said that certain signs had recently made him realise that he had been living with a CPR dummy instead of his son. Those signs, he said, included being defected and urinated on the morning he killed “the dummy.” Defence attorney Kerry Cuccia requested a competency evaluation for his client to determine whether he was sane at the time of the murder.⁸

It was determined that Wright was not competent at the time of the murder, and that he couldn’t understand the charge against him or assist in his defence. Wright was subsequently moved to a mental health facility just north of Baton Rouge. He remained here until August 2012 when doctors said they believed that he was now competent to stand trial. Wright pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and a sanity hearing was scheduled for January. During the hearing, it was revealed that he had told a guard he wasn’t worried about his trial “because I have a good family and a good lawyer. I’m on easy street.”⁹

During the hearing, more information about Wright’s comments were revealed. He had said to detectives he believed that the CPR dummy was put into his home as a government experiment to reach him about life.¹⁰ The judge ultimately ruled that Wright was incompetent and unable to assist in his defence. He was ordered to be returned to the state Department of Health and Hospitals and the Eastern Louisiana Mental Health Systems.

In February 2014, Wright was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity by state District Judge John LeBlanc. During a court hearing, several experts on mental illness concluded he was delusional and believed that his son wasn’t real and had been replaced by a CPR dummy. It was a rare decision by the judge, and Wright was returned to the state hospital in Jackson where he would be held indefinitely.¹¹

1. Columbia Daily Tribune, 16 August, 2011 – “Police: Father Admits Killing Disabled Son”
2. The Daily Advertiser, 16 August, 2011 – “La. Man Killed son with Disabilities”
3. Florida Today, 17 August, 2011 – “Suspected Wanted Slain Son Dead Sooner”
4. The Times, 21 August, 2011 – “Vigil is Set for Beheaded Boy”
5. The Picayune Item, 23 August, 2011 – “500 at Vigil”
6. The Times, 24 August, 2011 – “Disabled Boy Buried in Family Crypt with Toys”
7. The Times, 27 August, 2011 – “Man Indicted for Son’s Death”
8. The Daily Advertiser, 1 September, 2011 – “Prosecutor Wants Client’s Sanity Examined”
9. The Daily Review, 31 January, 2013 – “Beheaded Boy Sanity Hearing Moving Slowly”
10. The Daily Review, 19 February, 2013 – “Sanity Ruling”
11. The Daily Review, 17 February, 2014 – “Insanity Ruling in Child Decapitation”