An off-duty National Guardsman from the
Lafayette area was shot and killed in Baton Rouge - weeks before
departure for Thailand and, eventually, Iraq.
Baton Rouge police say a man accused in his murder was arrested
today.
Sgt. Don Kelly, a police spokesman, says 18-year-old Larry
Murray turned himself in to Zachary police tonight and was being
booked with first-degree murder of 20-year-old Matthew Trahan.
Trahan was shot Wednesday night in a run-down North Baton Rouge
neighborhood five blocks from the Exxon refinery. Baton Rouge
police say he was from Lafayette, about 60 miles west of Baton
Rouge; relatives tell KATC-TV of Lafayette that he was from the
suburb of Scott.
Kelly says Trahan apparently gave a ride to Murray, who
allegedly shot and robbed him.
Relatives in Scott tell KATC that Trahan and a friend had
stopped for two strangers who asked for a ride.
His mother, Sherrie Price, and other relatives tell the station
that Trahan joined the National Guard two years ago and was
scheduled to leave for Thailand in the next few weeks, and to be in
Iraq sometime in the next year.
Trahan’s brother, Joe Trahan, also is in the military. Their
grandfather and mother also served.