A December night in southeastern Louisiana suddenly turned into a fight for survival. Charlitria Thomas, a 31-year-old resident of Baton Rouge, found herself in the middle of a brutal violent encounter inside her own city. What began as a heated personal dispute took a terrifying turn when a gun was pulled and fired directly at her face.
The argument broke out between Thomas and her 15-year-old boyfriend right in the heart of Baton Rouge. During the confrontation, the teenage suspect escalated things fast by pulling out two separate firearms. Before Thomas could react or escape, a bullet struck her right in the jaw, causing massive physical trauma and leaving her severely injured.
Emergency responders rushed to the scene and transported Thomas to a local hospital in critical condition. Medical staff had to intubate her immediately just to keep her breathing while surgeons worked to stabilize her injuries. For days, her life hung in the balance as she lay in intensive care recovering from the devastating gunshot wound.
Once Thomas was stable enough to speak, Baton Rouge police detectives visited her hospital bedside to get answers. Investigators asked her directly where the 15-year-old shooter had gone and if she knew his current location. Thomas looked officers in the eye and claimed she had not seen or heard a single word from him since the shooting occurred.
That story quickly fell apart once Thomas was released from the hospital. Local witnesses spotted her driving around the streets of Baton Rouge in a Hyundai Elantra, and she was not alone. Right beside her in the passenger seat was the very same 15-year-old boy who had put her in the hospital just weeks earlier.
Instead of helping law enforcement bring her attacker to justice, police say Thomas actively helped the young shooter evade authorities. She kept him hidden from local officers and drove him out of Louisiana entirely. Their run from the law came to an abrupt end on New Year’s Eve when a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper pulled over the Hyundai Elantra along the interstate.
Officers arrested the teenager on the spot, slapping him with severe Louisiana charges including attempted second-degree murder, armed robbery, illegal use of a weapon, and illegal firearm possession. Now, Baton Rouge police have issued an arrest warrant for Thomas herself, charging her with accessory after the fact for protecting her shooter. She remains on the run, and authorities are calling on the public to help locate her.
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