LEONARD GRAY

LULING – An 18-year-old Luling man is clinging to his life, in critical condition, the victim of a beating Saturday night at a party on Monsanto Avenue. An arrest was made Sunday evening of Shawn J. Trehan, 20, of 117 Railroad Lane in Des Allemands, charged with attempted homicide. Capt. Patrick Yoes of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office reported that Justin Dufrene, 18, of 200 Laurel Court, was followed out to his car by Trehan as he tried to leave a party in the 500 block of Monsanto Avenue. Witnesses, Yoes added, told police they saw Trehan shouting and trying to provoke a fight with Dufrene, finally punch him and caused him to fall into a ditch. According to his uncle, Grant Dufrene, Justin threw up his hands and shouted, “I don’t want to fight!” However, another punch from Trehan knocked him down again. When Dufrene struck the pavement, Yoes continued, the back of his head hit the street. While on the ground, witnesses said Trehan continued to kick Dufrene several times on the face and body before leaving him severely injured in the street. Dufrene’s uncle said he had been in touch with other people regarding Trehen, one of whom said the 20-year-old put another youth in the hospital for two weeks, the victim of a beating. “I don’t know who he is, but he’s a predator,” Grant Dufrene added. Dufrene’s uncle added the next day or so will determine the full extent of his nephew’s injuries. He is now in an induced coma as the swelling goes down within his skull. Meanwhile, more than 100 classmates have already visited Dufrene at his hospital room. “He’s well-liked,” Dufrene’s uncle said. Dufrene, an honor student and 2001 graduate of Hahnville High School, was enrolled at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on a TOPS Scholarship, according to his uncle. Dufrene has been raised by his uncle since the age of 7, when his father died in a 1990 auto accident. Sheriff’s deputies responded to the 11:27 p.m. emergency call and Dufrene was transported to St. Charles Parish Hospital with a skull fracture, brain trauma and internal brain bleeding. There, he was stabilized and transferred to Ochsner Hospital. Trehan was arrested Sunday at 8:15 p.m. and charged with attempted homicide. “It doesn’t look good,” Yoes said of Dufrene. Should Dufrene succumb to his injuries, the charges could be changed to homicide. Trehan’s bond was set at $400,000 by 29th Judicial District Judge Robert Chaisson.