Chalmette man booked with second-degree murder for killing his ex-wife with an ax

St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann said a Chalmette man was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 27 for killing his ex-wife with an ax in front of her Chalmette home.

Mark Owens, 56, who is from Chalmette but was staying in Arabi, was booked with second-degree murder after he surrendered.

At approximately 8 a.m., Sheriff Pohlmann said, deputies responded to a call about a disturbance involving a man attacking a woman with an ax outside her home.

When deputies arrived on the scene the suspect had fled, but Kimberly Owens, 48, was found fatally wounded as a result of the attack.

The investigation is ongoing.

This is the second homicide in St. Bernard Parish in 2017. The last homicide was involving a murder-suicide that took place in March in Chalmette.