A St. Martin Parish man was beaten to death last week. His family and friends are now speaking out and asking why there hasn’t been an arrest.
Last Thursday, Curley Prejean was addressing an ongoing issue in his neighborhood. The man who lives across the street from Prejean removed his mailbox, leaving behind a fairly large hole, which was which was why Prejean got involved.
Tommy Leger, Prejean’s neighbor, says “They have this old man that lives right by the house, he’s 93 or 94 and he walks up and down the road a few times a day. Curley had called the Sheriff’s department to get Dwayne to go fill up that hole because he was worried that old man would fall and hurt himself.”
Other residents also say Curley called the sheriff’s office to handle a dispute at 1045 Betty Drive. Anne Latiolais, another neighbor, says, “He didn’t want that old man to fall in this hole or anybody get hurt in that hole. That’s how kind he was, he was a kind man and he was worried about the neighbors. He was worried about that old man falling in that hole.”
Nonetheless, Prejean was on private property. Did he approach his neighbor making a threat or intend to harm him? Those are questions that remain for the sheriff’s office. Tommy Leger lives within 50 yards of both men involved and was one of the first to the scene. Leger says he found Prejean lying on the ground, with a neighbor standing over him with a stick. “Right in front of Mr. Dwayne’s house, along the road, Curley’s shovel was stuck in the ground and his wheel barrel was right there. I guess he was going dig right there to fill up that hole. Why Curly walked in his driveway, I couldn’t tell you.”
We reached out to the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office. Officials told us there’s an active and ongoing investigation, and no information will be released until investigation is completed. We also searched arrest records and could not find any arrest related to this death.
Funeral services for Curley Prejean are scheduled for Wednesday, May 13th at Evangeline Memorial Gardens Chapel.
