LEONARD GRAY

LULING – Justin “Pee Wee” Dufrene survived the weekend, despite going into cardiac arrest Friday and developing pneumonia by Monday, according to a family spokesman. “We’re just waiting for some better news and not really getting any,” said Dufrene’s uncle, Grant Dufrene. Dufrene, 18, of Luling, was severely beaten Aug. 4 at a party on Monsanto Avenue. A suspect, Shawn J. Trehan, 20, of 117 Railroad Lane, Des Allemands, was arrested the following day and he was charged with attempted homicide. Trehan remains in custody in Hahnville. A $400,000 bond was set by 29th Judicial District Judge Robert Chaisson. Trehan’s parents are devastated by the arrest of their son. “He’s not no murderer. He’s not no killer,” declared his father, Radley Trehan. “It’s hard. Very hard.” Trehan’s mother, Doris, added, “We’re in so much pain. We’re very, very sorry for this.” She said Shawn comes from a good family and has good parents, and said she has burned candles for both her son and for Dufrene. “We are in terrible pain,” she explained. Meanwhile, the vigil has continued at Ochsner Hospital, where Grant Dufrene said Justin went into cardiac arrest Friday night, but was brought back five minutes later. However, he remains in an induced coma while his brain remains swelled from the battery. “He may be a bit worse now than when he was brought in,” his uncle said. One thing gratifying to the family is the outpouring of support provided by Justin’s friends. “I’d like to thank everyone,” Grant Dufrene said. “The support has been tremendous. “He has a lot of great friends.” Some of those friends even went the extra mile as to donate blood in Justin’s name when they visited him in the hospital last week. “There’s been an overwhelming amount of support,” Grant Dufrene said. Dufrene was transported to St. Charles Parish Hospital after the altercation. He was diagnosed with a skull fracture, brain trauma and internal brain bleeding. He was then stabilized and transferred to Ochsner Hospital in Metairie. Justin’s sister, Charlene, said he gets a dosage of morphine every hour, and doctors tell the family they have seen similar cases drag on for a long time and the patients fully recover. “We’re still hoping for the best,” she said. Capt. Patrick Yoes of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office related that Justin Dufrene was attending a party in the 500 block of Monsanto Avenue when Trehan arrived, allegedly uninvited, and Dufrene attempted to leave to avoid trouble. Witnesses, Yoes said, told police they saw Trehan follow Dufrene out to his car, shouting and trying to provoke a fight, finally punch him several times and causing Dufrene to fall into a ditch. According to his uncle, Justin threw up his hands and shouted, “I don’t want to fight!” However, another punch from Trehan knocked him down again, and Trehan allegedly proceeded to kick Dufrene several times on the face and body before leaving him in the street, according to several witnesses. Trehan’s parents have a different story, however. “I heard the little guy (Dufrene) swung at him (Trehan) and missed and he fell and hit his head,” Doris Trehan said. “It was a little fistfight and he accidently fell.” 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. Should Dufrene succumb to his injuries, the charges against Trehan could be changed to homicide, according to Yoes.