The charge against a man identified as a leader in the Banshees motorcyle club has been upgraded from attempted manslaughter to attempted second-degree murder, St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said in a news release.
Guidroz said on Friday that John D. Pastorick, 67, 223 Shelton Manuel Road, Eunice, was back in jail on the new charge with bail set at $100,000.
“...additional evidence was uncovered to allow the charges to be upgraded,” Guidroz said.
Deputies investigating the shooting on May 29 spoke with Pastorick, who told them when he arrived at his residence he and his granddaughter began to argue, Guidroz said.
“The argument ended with his granddaughter leaving the kitchen and entering her bedroom. Pastorick then entered her room and shot what he believed to be an intruder,” he said.
Investigators with the sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division interviewed Pastorick and he asserted he shot the 17-year-old male and assumed he was an intruder, Guidroz said.
Pastorick never disclosed to the initial investigating deputies or detectives that the teen posed any type of threat, prior to shooting at him, Guidroz said.
The teen was found unarmed and barely clothed by deputies and medical personnel, he said.
The granddaughter, who was the witness of the entire incident, also provided a statement indicating that the teen did not pose a threat to her or Pastorick, Guidroz said.
Patorick’s bail was set at $25,000 on the attempted manslaughter charge.
Pastorick has been identified as a former Mamou postal service clerk and had recently worked at the Pine Prairie Post Office.