Clayton child found decapitated

Police search for 4-year-old's father

******

CORRECTION

A story on Page 1A Saturday incorrectly spelled the first name of a child found murdered in her Clayton home. Her name was Katlin Violette.

******

CLAYTON -- Amber Violette arrived at her Clayton home late Friday afternoon to find that her 4-year-old daughter had been killed, the child's head severed from her body, according to emergency dispatchers.

Clayton police searched for John Patrick Violette, 37, on Friday night, anxious to speak to him about the death of his only child, Caitlyn. As of 9:30 p.m., authorities had not found Violette or the light-colored Buick stationwagon he was last seen driving.

Police were tight-lipped Friday as they canvassed the young family's quiet subdivision off a country road near the edge of town. Police tape looped around trees in neighbors' yards, and high-powered lights lit up the street like a stadium.

Emergency dispatchers received a panicked call from Amber Violette just before 5 p.m., said Fred Simmons, supervisor at the 911 communications center. She reported that her daughter had been killed and decapitated, Simmons said.

Neighbor B.J. Woodall had an uneasy feeling around lunchtime Friday when she saw John Violette speeding into the neighborhood in his stationwagon.

"His face was cringing; he looked like he was disturbed about something," said Woodall, who stood in the yard talking to another neighbor as Violette zoomed by. Woodall said Violette was talking angrily into his cell phone as he raced up to the home's front stoop.

Neighbors were in disbelief that such a brutal slaying could happen in such a family.

"There is no way I can believe that anything that happened was directly the responsibility of John or Amber," said Terry Ashley, president of Grovewood subdivision homeowners' association.

The Violettes were quiet, religious people who kept to themselves, neighbors said. John or Amber would tip a hand as they passed neighbors while strolling in the subdivision. Sometimes John Violette would pull Caitlyn in a wagon, Ashley said.

Young families started settling in the Grovewood subdivision in 1999. The Violettes were among the first; they bought a three-bedroom house for $93,000. Few in the neighborhood knew them well, though; some had never seen Caitlyn.

John Violette worked long hours at Lowe's Home Improvement store several miles away on N.C. 42. Amber Violette picked up a job as a secretary, said neighbor John Walker. The two always made a point of meeting at home every day for lunch.

John Violette seemed to dote on his daughter, who resembled him with her dark hair and features, Walker said.

Anyone with information about Caitlyn's death is asked to call Clayton police at 934-9411.

(News researcher Lamara Williams-Hackett contributed to this report.)