A juvenile is dead and another juvenile is in custody after a shooting broke out on the 300 block of Smith Street in Hahnville just before 2 a.m. Monday. Deputies arrived to find the victim suffering from a gunshot wound and rushed the teen to a hospital, where the young victim later died from the injuries.
The St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed the shooting left one juvenile dead and another juvenile in custody, according to reporting by NOLA.com. Investigators took the second juvenile into custody in connection with the shooting, and that teen is expected to face charges, per the sheriff's office. Detective Garrett Haun of the sheriff's office Criminal Investigations Division is leading the case, though authorities have not identified the victim, released the ages of either juvenile, or explained how the two knew one another.
Separately, L'Observateur confirmed that both the victim and the juvenile in custody are male, though it too reported that law enforcement withheld their ages and specific identities while the investigation remains active. Department officials intend to release additional information later, per the sheriff's office. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Haun at 985-783-1135 or email [email protected].
A Block With a Violent Past
This is not the first act of gun violence on this stretch of Smith Street. In November 2023, a 21-year-old man was shot four times outside a residence on the same block in a drive-by shooting, with detectives recovering multiple shell casings from the street and finding gunfire damage to a nearby vehicle and home, L'Observateur reported at the time.
Years earlier, in November 2021, a 66-year-old resident was fatally shot multiple times inside his home on the 300 block of Smith Street, according to the St. Charles Herald Guide. That case resulted in a second-degree murder warrant against a 21-year-old suspect, with sheriff's office detectives noting the shooting stemmed from an argument over an alleged debt.
Breaking a Record-Setting Stretch
Monday's shooting comes on the heels of an unprecedented stretch of calm in St. Charles Parish. The parish recorded zero homicides in 2025, marking the first year in more than three decades without a murder, per the Herald Guide's statistics. That followed one homicide in 2024, five in 2023, and six in 2022.
Official Uniform Crime Reporting data released by the sheriff's office showed the single homicide in 2024 represented an 80% drop from the prior year, with Sheriff Greg Champagne noting that 2024 marked the second-lowest overall crime rate the parish had seen in 28 years. That downward trend had continued into last year before Monday's fatal shooting.
Legal Questions Ahead for a Teen Suspect
Because the suspect in custody is a juvenile, any prosecution would run through District Attorney Joel T. Chaisson II's office and the 29th Judicial District Court, which maintains dedicated criminal and juvenile divisions, according to the district attorney's office. Whether the case stays in juvenile court or moves toward adult prosecution remains an open question, since no charges have yet been formally detailed by authorities.
Under Article 305 of the Louisiana Children's Code, juvenile court jurisdiction can be automatically divested for juveniles aged 15 or older accused of serious violent offenses such as first- or second-degree murder, allowing transfer to adult criminal court upon a grand jury indictment or a probable cause finding. District attorneys retain discretion to pursue a case in juvenile court or seek an adult indictment for qualifying violent offenses, though it is not yet known which path prosecutors will choose in this case.
A Small River Parish Seat
Hahnville, the parish seat of St. Charles Parish, is an unincorporated community along the west bank of the Mississippi River with an estimated population of roughly 3,900 residents as of this year, up from 2,959 recorded in the 2020 U.S. Census, according to Wikipedia.
The shooting also comes amid other recent concerns about firearms circulating in the parish. In December, the sheriff's office requested public surveillance footage following a spree of vehicle burglaries in nearby Paradis during which multiple firearms were stolen from cars, urging residents to lock their vehicles and report suspicious activity.
No further details about a motive, the relationship between the two juveniles, or their identities have been released as the investigation continues. The sheriff's office has not yet said when it expects to release the additional information officials indicated would come later Monday.
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