Ruth Sanderson compared worship services at First Baptist Church on Sunday morning to a town hall meeting in the aftermath of what is possibly the first homicide in this community in more than 70 years.

Meredith Jean Davis' body was found Sunday, but the Lincoln Parish sheriff's office would not disclose the location. Davis, 39, lived at 110 Allen Drive with her husband, Samuel Robert Davis, 53, who was arrested and charged with second-degree murder just before 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

"It's always been a nice, quiet neighborhood," said Sanderson, the Davis family's neighbor on Allen Drive.

A sheriff's office spokesman said information on the alleged murder will not be released until Monday.

Samuel Davis is being held at Lincoln Parish Detention Center on $1 million bond.

Meredith Davis had three children - two daughters and a son - from a previous marriage who lived with the couple, according to neighbors and Choudrant Mayor Bill Sanderson, Ruth Sanderson's nephew. The youngest of the children is 16, Bill Sanderson said.

He said he was told by deputies at the scene that the son and one of the daughters were in Texas to celebrate a high school graduation when the alleged murder occurred.

The mayor said the alleged murder is the first in Choudrant, population 830, since the 1930s.

"For our community, it's something we're unfamiliar with," Bill Sanderson said. "From what I've been told, investigators gathered a large volume of evidence at the scene of the crime."

Ruth Sanderson, who has lived on Allen Drive for the last 52 years with her husband, said the Davis family moved in about four or five years ago.

Church-goers discussed the sad story and ways they might be able to help, as well as their new fears.

"It sort of makes me want to make sure our doors are closed because you never know what could happen now," Ruth Sanderson said. "It's sad."