Well consider, if you will, that the dead husband’s relatives support her story.
Though Kenner Police have no records of phone calls or reports to authorities, relatives of both Lyndell and Melissa Desilva, including the couple's children, told investigators that she suffered years of abuse at his hands, according to McGregor.
Then consider that the police are turning over the case to the DA because they want to be fair and all of the available evidence supports her story.
"You've got a victim of a battery," he said. "You've got a individual (Lyndell Desilva) that is armed. There's a history of domestic violence. She felt threatened. She felt she was protecting her children. He wasn't living there at the time, and he's the instigator of the fight. She had marks and bruises on her that support the report of domestic violence. You take all of that into consideration."
Yes, possibly a big factor in the police decision to wait for the DA's decision to forego an arrest at this time. BTW, one of the photos of Lyndell at nola.com is tagged as provided by the Kenner PD. Since the late Mr. Desilva was very much alive in the photo, I'm sure the Kenner cops knew more about him than they're stating in this case.