CENTRAL — A couple is dead after an apparent murder-suicide Sunday morning in Central. The victims have been identified as 54-year-old Paul Varnado and his girlfriend, Alanna Singleton.
UWK has learned that Varnado was released on bond in late June after he was accused of beating Singleton, leaving her body covered in bruises. Singleton had obtained a protective order against him, and according to her family, they had begged her not to let him back into her life.
East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s deputies responded to the couple’s home at the corner of Arleen Avenue and Watson Drive, just off Blackwater Road, around 9:40 a.m. on August 3. When they arrived, they found the couple dead inside from gunshot wounds.
READ NOW: Domestic murder-suicide leaves couple dead
Domestic Violence was the subject of a recent Louisiana Unfiltered podcast.
READ NOW: Louisiana ranks 5th in nation for domestic violence homicides
History of Domestic Abuse Battery arrests
Varnado was arrested after a domestic incident at their Central home on June 24, 2025. According to the arrest report, the couple got into an argument around 12:35 a.m. that escalated into violence, ending with Singleton being pushed down a flight of stairs and left with numerous bruises.
The argument reportedly began after Varnado accused Singleton of taking his keys and cellphone. She told deputies she didn’t have them, but said Varnado became enraged and took her keys instead. Fearing his temper, she tried to leave through the back door. That’s when, according to the warrant, he “grabbed her and began manhandling her on the back porch.” During the struggle, Singleton told deputies, he threw her down the stairs, which caused the bruising.
When deputies questioned Varnado about her injuries, he claimed the bruises were from Singleton crawling under their trailer earlier that day. However, deputies noted in their report that the bruises appeared “very new.”
Varnado was arrested and charged with domestic abuse battery. His bond was set at $5,000, but he could not be released until a protective order was signed and in effect. That order was issued on June 26, 2025, and he bonded out two days later. He was scheduled to appear in court again in September for a review hearing.
Less than six weeks after that domestic violence incident, the couple was found dead in an apparent murder-suicide. Despite the protective order, the two went back to their live-in relationship. Detectives are still investigating the circumstances of the shooting, and further details are expected to be revealed through autopsy results.
EBRSO tells UWK they did not receive any calls from anyone at the Central home since the June 24th arrest, until today.
2022: Domestic Battery on wife of 15-years
Court records show Varnado was also arrested in 2022 after pushing his then wife of 15 years. She told deputies the two got into an argument while she was trying to clean the home in Sept. 2022. That’s when he got mad and starting yelling before walking out on their balcony at Perkins Rowe.
The then-wife told deputies her son was at home and stepped in to defend his mother, which upset Varnado even more. It’s why the mother said she got between the two, at which time she was pushed out the way and fell to the floor.
Varnado left the home. He was arrested on Oct. 4, 2022 and charged with domestic abuse battery. His bond was set at $2,500.
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