Update: Chance Seneca was indicted March 18, 2021, by a grand jury for attempted murder and plans to kidnap and murder other gay men.
A Louisiana teen is recounting his near-death date experience as he pushes for hate crime charges to be levied against his attacker while he continues to recover from the gruesome attack, according to KLFY.
Holden White, 18, of Lafayette met up with Chance Seneca, 19, for a first date June 20 after meeting on the online dating app Grindr, according to the report.
White said nothing was suspicious about Seneca and that the duo had been talking for a month before meeting in-person, according to the report. But things quickly changed when the pair met up at Seneca’s house to play video games.
“He left the room to get something, and then he came back. And when he came back, he had came up behind me and that’s when he wrapped a cord around my throat,” White told the outlet.
As Seneca strangled him, White said nearly every blood vessel in his face ruptured and his vision and memory quickly began to fade as he slipped into unconsciousness, KLFY reported.
On June 20, 2020, Holden White was tortured until his attacker thought he was dead.https://t.co/WkI5bjgdOT
— CBS 17 (@WNCN) January 25, 2021
“The next thing I remember I was in the bathtub, and he was slicing open my left wrist,” White said, noting he kept coming to before quickly passing out as he sat in a pool of his own blood. (RELATED: NY Attorney General Warns About Surge In ‘Revenge Porn’ Due To Pandemic)
“I was saying my final words to myself which were just, ‘Stay calm,'” White said, according to the report.
But when White awoke again, he was no longer struggling to stay alive in a bathtub. White fell into a three-day coma, which ended when he awoke in a hospital with a breathing tube and bandages covering most of his body, according to the report.
White was left with six stab wounds to the neck, a blow to the back of his head and gashes so deep in his wrist that his hands were reportedly almost sawed off.
Seneca had reportedly called police after the incident to report that he killed a man, not realizing White was still alive.
Seven months later, White has regained full function in his right hand while his left hand is still partially numb, according to the outlet. The FBI continues to investigate the brutal attempt to take White’s life. White said he’s confident Seneca will be charged with a hate crime.
“He chose to go on the app Grindr. He went on an app designated for gay people,” White said, according to the report. “He chose to choose someone who is gay and very proud of his sexuality. He said this in prison. He said he chose me because I have a smaller stature and it would be easier to kill me. He knew what he was doing.”
“This was preplanned,” he continued.
Police originally told White and his family that White’s near-death experience was not a hate crime, according to KLFY.
But an organization dedicated to being an ally for LGBTQ people said the early determination was a “miscarriage of justice.”
“The notion that our local law enforcement can rule out such a heinous and brutal act as not being a hate crime within 24 hours is not only premature but arguably a miscarriage of justice,” PFLAG President Matthew Humphrey said, according to the report.
Seneca is slated to appear in court in early March for a pre-trial, according to KLFY.