By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

HAHNVILLE — Authorities in St. Charles arrested two Montz area brothers after one allegedly shot and wounded the other during an argument with their mother.

Capt. Pat Yoes, public information officer for the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office said Travis Lee Sturgis, 24, 119 Union Lane, was booked with attempted second-degree murder after he shot his younger brother, Robert Lee Sturgis, 22, in the chest. The elder brother was trying to break up a fight between the younger brother and their 51-year-old mother.

A spokesman for the St. Charles District Attorney’s office said Travis Sturgis was released without bond after the arrest because District Judge Robert Chaisson ruled there was no probable cause for the charge. Louisiana law states that a person has a right to defend another person.

According to a release from the Sheriff’s Office, Robert Sturgis was wrestling with his mother during an argument when Travis Sturgis entered the room and tried to break up the melee. The report said Travis Sturgis warned his brother to get off his mother and when he did not comply, authorities say Travis shot his brother.

Yoes said Robert Sturgis was transported to River Parishes Hospital in LaPlace for treatment of his injuries and released into police custody where he was booked with simple battery.

In an unrelated incident, Yoes said deputies booked a St. Rose man with attempted second-degree murder, six counts of aggravated criminal damage to property and simple battery after the man allegedly fired shots into his ex-girlfriend’s Destrehan home.

Yoes said Kenneth L. Howard, 43, 606 E. Club Dr., is being held at the Nelson Coleman Correctional Facility on a $500,000 bond.

According to a report on the incident, Howard showed up at his ex-girlfriend’s home on Carriage Lane and fired several shots into the residence. No one was home at the time and no one was injured in the incident. Howard was booked with aggravated criminal damage the shots caused severe damage to the property.