Insets (left to right): Justin Bueche and Heidi Trahan, East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office. Background view: Shady Bluff Drive, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Google Maps).
Authorities discovered a deceased woman in her Louisiana residence, and her stepson and his girlfriend now confront felony charges.
Justin Bueche, 43, and Heidi Trahan, 42, remain incarcerated following charges of elder cruelty. Police documents obtained by the local ABC affiliate WBRZ indicate that officers responded to a Baton Rouge home on Thursday after receiving a report of a woman’s death. Officers found a 74‑year‑old woman,identified in the records as Bueche’s stepmother,lying unclothed except for a red shirt and a soiled adult diaper. She exhibited severe bedsores on her back, exposing bone.
For the past five years, Bueche and Trahan resided with the woman, providing care after she suffered a stroke that left her partially confined to bed.
The arrest report states that Bueche informed police his stepmother had been entirely bedridden for two months before her death and was unable to rise from the couch. On September 17, he telephoned a local hospital to inquire about treating her bedsores. Although hospital personnel advised him to transport her for care, police assert that neither Bueche nor Trahan pursued medical treatment for the woman.
Police reported that Trahan, Bueche’s girlfriend, claimed she served as the woman’s primary caregiver. Officers discovered the victim lying amidst human waste. Trahan allegedly testified that she and Bueche changed the woman’s diapers only once or twice daily.
During the execution of a search warrant, police observed a scarcity of food supplies and detected animal waste on the floors of multiple rooms.
The local CBS affiliate WAFB indicated that an autopsy will be performed to ascertain the cause and manner of the woman’s death.
Bueche and Trahan were arrested on Friday and continue to be held in custody; authorities have not released their upcoming court dates.
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