According to Fox 8 New Orleans, St. James Parish Sheriff's Office officials say an arrest has been made in connection with two black teenagers who were beaten at a Christmas Eve bonfire event.

Jordan Hitt, 21, was arrested Dec. 28 and is charged with aggravated second-degree battery. Hitt is currently behind bars at the St. James Parish Jail in Convent and is awaiting a bond hearing.

La'Quesha Scott, 34, of Convent, and Lahoma Dumas, 38, of Gonzales, said their sons, who are cousins, had gone to the bonfire celebration in Gramercy with a group of friends from Ascension Parish who had never seen the bonfires before. The boys didn't know anyone who was lighting a bonfire but went to watch, as many do. The annual holiday tradition with more than two centuries of history draws thousands of visitors, many from out of town and even out of state.

Scott and Dumas claim their sons were injured by a group of white males after a white female spoke to another black male who at the bonfire with their sons. A group of white males began to attack the group of black youths after the female spoke to them.

In a post, Scott also put up pictures of Dumas's son, Shannon Dumas Jr., 17, showing severe injuries around his eyes, cheeks, scalp, as well as what appears to be a split earlobe. Scott claimed her nephew had been hit with a Crown Royal bottle several times and knocked unconscious. Scott said her 15-year-old son, Sam, has a sprained knee from the incident.

Shannon Dumas explains that "a white girl started talking to one of my black friends and they were running it with each other and she had a boyfriend and her boyfriend got mad." From there, Shannon Dumas says the conversation escalated and more people gathered around.

"And I asked him if he wanted to fight and he said, 'Yeah,' so he was like yeah, so I took my jacket off and when I took my jacket off, somebody hit me with a bottle and I fell and they hit me again and I fell again and they started jumping me," Shannon Dumas added.

He and his cousin insist they did not throw the first punches. They say five or six white teenagers surrounded them and attacked.

"The dude's friends ended up sneaking me from behind and they had pulled me by the hood of my jacket," Sam Scott said.

Officials say the investigation is ongoing and they are encouraging anyone with more information to contact the sheriff's office at 225-562-2200.

"Any witnesses out there, y'all should come forward. If y'all have pictures or videos of whomever or video of them doing this, come out and let us know. Let the police know. Let the news know," said Lahoma Dumas.

"I want to get people in jail for it," said Sid Berthelot, deputy chief with the St. James Parish Sheriff's Office. "Totally uncalled for, what happened. It's a shame. We're going to bring the people who did this to justice."

Some days it sure does feel like we're entering 1958 rather than 2018.

St. James Parish

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