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Hate crime charges were added in a grisly assault last summer that left a gay Louisiana teenager in a coma for three days.
Holden White of Lafayette was only 18 when he met 19-year-old Chance Seneca on the gay dating app Grindr. After communicating for a month, the two young men decided to meet in person at the end of June.
White, a sophomore at Louisiana State University, Eunice, said he invited Seneca to his new apartment, but Seneca convinced him to come to his father to play video games.
After an awkward conversation, White said his next memory was being pulled back by a rope and being strangled so badly that “every blood vessel in my face ruptured” before passing out.
White said when he regained consciousness he was naked in a bathtub, watching Seneca slicing his left wrist.
“I remember thinking, ‘Well, that’s it,’” he told the Acadiana Advocate. “The last words I said to myself were just ‘Keep calm.’ Over and over and over in my head, I was repeating myself just to keep calm. “
According to the local news site, Seneca called 911 and told the dispatcher he had killed a man. He was home when the officers responded.
White suffered stab wounds, a blunt trauma to the back of his head, and cuts to his wrists so deep his hands were almost cut off. He spent nearly a month in hospital and in rehabilitation.
“When I woke up, I couldn’t remember anything. I didn’t remember going to his house, ”White told NBC News. “The human mind, I have since learned, will block traumatic experiences.”
Since then, details of the encounter have emerged even as her body continues to heal. The scars on his neck, where White said Seneca took the point of a knife and repeatedly twisted in his throat, have already started to fade.
He has regained most of the use of his right hand, but his left hand is still numb and does not have full grip strength. Her left hand was more severely damaged – the artery and several tendons were severed – and may require additional surgery.
He also suffered from short-term memory problems.
Seneca was arrested at the scene and charged with attempted second degree murder, and remains jailed on $ 250,000 bond.
Police initially declined to include hate crime charges, saying they believed the attack stemmed from an argument between the two men.
“There were several indicators that tell us it was not a hate crime,” Sgt. Wayne Griffin of the Lafayette Police Department told The Acadiana Advocate shortly after the initial charges were laid. “Just because of the sensitivity of the matter, we can no longer talk about it.”
Griffin declined to comment further this week and referred NBC News to the FBI.
Alicia Irmscher, FBI public affairs official in New Orleans, said the agency was aware of the incident but would not consider whether it was conducting an investigation.
White, however, said he was speaking to FBI agents and the Lafayette Parish District Attorney’s Office about the case.
The hate crime charges, carrying an additional five years in prison, were added by the district attorney on January 20.
Despite police initial doubts, White is adamant that he was targeted for being gay.
“He chose to use the Grindr app,” he told local news channel KATC-TV. “He used an app aimed at gay people. He chose to choose someone who is gay and very proud of his sexuality. He said that in prison. He said he chose me because I had smaller stature and it would be easier to kill me. He knew what he was doing. “
But he’s still frustrated with the police department’s handling of the case and the length of time it took for the attack to qualify as a hate crime.
“For them to shut it down as a lovers quarrel is just amazing,” he said. “Let’s say we had a fight, which we didn’t, who would go at this point on a stupid argument?” Hit someone on the back of the head with a hammer? To try to cut off their hands?
He remembers being questioned by officers in his hospital room the day after he emerged from his coma. “They asked me the most brutal questions while I was still sedated,” he said. “They just shelled me. When I think about it, it’s just sad.
He also said he did not understand why the police had not provided hospital staff with a rape kit to determine if he had been sexually assaulted. “It scares me that I don’t know and that I may never know,” he said.
He believes his sexuality may be a factor in how the department handled the case.
“We still have homophobia in South Louisiana, so if that was part of it, I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said. “I don’t want to think about it, but I can’t help myself. When we go to court, I always thank the police for arresting this man, but that’s all I can thank them for.
If the case were to go to trial, White knows he will likely have to relive the worst episode of his life. But he says he’s ready for it.
“I don’t have to think about it again. I have cross-shaped scars on my wrist – I never think about it, ”he said, adding that he was anxious to give his victim impact statement.
“I know some people cry or get angry. I do not want. I will speak to him appropriately and tell him how I feel. I want him to know he doesn’t scare me. Once it’s done, I’ll be ready to move past that, ”he said.
Seneca’s attorney, J. Clay LeJeune, said the additional hate crime charge was “a total surprise”.
“I have not received any information from the state supporting this position,” he told NBC News in an email. “We will enter a plea of not guilty on the original and amended charge.”
Seneca’s next preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 2.
Attacks based on sexual orientation accounted for 16.8% of all hate crimes in 2019, statistics from last year were available in the FBI Uniform Crime Report. This represents the third largest category after race and religion.
But reporting incidents of bias is not mandatory and Lafayette is one of hundreds of cities that did not report any hate crimes for the year.
White said he was moved by the outpouring of support he received, including a GoFundMe campaign for his recovery that brought in more than $ 100,000. “I didn’t expect to hear from people all over the world – I got texts from Australia myself,” he shared. “At the same time, my story got a bit swept under the rug at the start. People in my home state say they hear about it now.
There were also cruel comments on social media and discussion threads. White says he sometimes jumps in and responds to a news article. “They need to hear the whole story. What if someone reads this comment and thinks, ‘Oh, maybe that is the truth?’ “
He urges other victims of hate crimes to stand up for themselves and not just rely on the justice system.
“Never give up – if you stop trying or stop talking about your case, it can be swept away and just go away.”
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