Grindr attack that ended in a teen’s hands being almost cut off is now being prosecuted as a hate crime
Holden White. (Instagram/ ho1denwhite)
A horrific attack on Louisiana teen Holden White, who almost had his hands cut off allegedly by a man he met on Grindr, is now being prosecuted as a hate crime.
Holden White, 18, was allegedly attacked by Chance Seneca, 19, when they met up in June, 2020, after speaking on the dating app Grindr for a month. He was left needing around-the-clock care after he was choked and his wrists hacked into so severely that his hands were almost severed.
The suspect has already been charged with attempted murder, to which he has pleaded not guilty, but now a hate crime charge has also been added.
Authorities originally said that White’s sexual orientation was not a factor in the attack, even though he met his attacker on the queer dating app Grindr.
Seneca’s attorney Clay LeJeune said: “We’re going to enter a not guilty plea on this new charge. I haven’t seen any indication of evidence that this was a hate crime, but ultimately the state will have to produce that.”
However White has always insisted that a hate crime charge, which could lead to an extra five years in prison, is appropriate.
He previously told KATC: “He went on an app designated for gay people. 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.”
Holden White was ‘choked with a cord and woke up naked in a bathtub’
When Holden White arrived at Chance Seneca’s home, he says, he was almost immediately choked with a cord, bursting the blood vessels in his face, until he blacked out.
He told The Advocate: “When I wake up, I am in his bathtub naked. The water is running, and it’s cold.”
Seneca is accused of then cutting White’s neck and wrists.
Recalling the moment woke up, White added: “He is in the process of doing my left wrist. It was to the point that he was basically trying to cut off my hands.”
Afterwards, he said: “I was laying in the bathtub, naked, bleeding out, the water red and cold, and I remember thinking, ‘Well, this is it.’
“The last words I said to myself were just ‘stay calm,’ over and over and over in my head I was just repeating to myself to stay calm.”
Seneca allegedly then went outside and called the police, telling them he had murdered a man in his bath and would be waiting for them to arrive.
