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Family reacts after domestic abuse shooting in Denham Springs
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DENHAM SPRINGS - The family of Jasmine Newhouse says she has been in a relationship with her boyfriend, Dexter Boutte, for about five months.
"There have been numerous domestic violence calls made to the sheriff's department. She would leave, she would go back," Newhouse's grandmother, Toni Griffith, said.
Around 3 a.m. Saturday, Livingston Parish deputies responded to a call about a shooting at an apartment complex on Magnolia Beach Road.
Jasmine was found shot in the neck.
Boutte told investigators the couple was arguing and wrestling over a gun when it fired.
Newhouse has been in the hospital on life support since Saturday.
"There is no processing this. This is my worst nightmare, and I just wish I could be woken up from it. My baby did not deserve this," Newhouse's mother, Twanna Sibley, said.
Jasmine's family says she was preparing to graduate from the Livingston Parish Adult Education program on Thursday.
"She has such a good heart; she loves so genuinely that she didn't see all the evil that I saw in this man. I begged her to come home. I begged her to leave the situation, that we would figure it out, we would work it out. It was okay just to come home," Sibley said.
Sibley and her family say they want to be a voice for Jasmine.
"There are so many other people like Jasmine out there, especially young girls, and it's very easy to get lost in all of that and become the victim like Jasmine has," Griffith said.
Patti Joy Freeman, executive director of Iris Domestic Violence Shelter, says there are resources available for those who may be going through domestic violence.
"Those who are going through that type of situation at a young, those are the persons, teenagers, you want to reach out to, or you want to find somebody who can reach out to them."
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Jasmine's family with medical expenses.
35-year-old Dexter Boutte remains in custody in connection with the shooting. He is facing charges of Attempted Manslaughter and Domestic Abuse Battery.
LPSO says the shooting remains under investigation.
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