A Lafayette family is telling the story of their son, Matthew, who was shot during an attempted armed robbery this past weekend.
Monday night, friends and others from the community gathered outside of Our Lady of Lourdes where Matthew is being treated to hold a prayer vigil and show their support to him and his family.
Matthew Carter's sister, Nichole, says in her Facebook posts she's speaking for her family when she tells the story of her younger brother being shot by two other teenagers who wanted his car:
As the word has gotten out, i’m going to speak on behalf of my family. this is something i never imagined saying... please hang with me if my words are jumbled. i’m lost.
The headlines seemed to have things twisted. My beautiful big hearted 17 year old baby brother, was at a friends house. UNARMED. Friday night/Saturday morning a 13 and 14 year old child decided to rob my brother. Over his pride and joy, his Camaro. this was premeditated, and when he wouldn’t.. they shot my brother while he sat in his drivers seat. They then left him alone, hours went by until he was found and the police were called. Matthew sustained catastrophic injuries and they’re giving us news we never imagined we’d hear. BUT I KNOW MY GOD IS A GOOD GOD, he makes miracles happen every day. MATTMATT deserves his miracle. please. i’m begging, pray for my brother.
He was not your average teenage boy, let me say that. He is the Godfather of my eldest boy, Cody. He called me every other day asking how he’s doing in school, wanting to talk to him, if he needs anything. then would check in on his “young queen” as he called Charlotte, and our “mattmatt jr” Cameron.
A senior star athlete at Comeaux high school playing football and soccer. Graduating in may, & alwayyyys stressing about his college plans. lol. My brothers heart is huge, bigger than most men I know and the biggest of all teenage boys. He’d do anything to make anyone laugh, and his random messages to me telling me how much he lovesand appreciates me and loves my kids were always at the times i needed them. He’s the baby of our crew... and makes us whole.
For matt’s friends, lift him up in prayer.. matt adores each of y’all. he’s here, he’s listening. he knows each of y’all that walked in today and told him how much y’all love him. thank you for that. I’m loving hearing the stories of how amazing he is. We know how much we love him, and it’s nice to hear how much everyone else does also.
Please, pray for him. pray for our parents, our family. His friends, coaches, teachers, everyone that matt has touched in our lives and continues to make an impact on us. God makes miracles happen.
If you have questions, do not feed into the nonsense that can be social media, but I had to let it be told how amazing of a guy he is, let’s make sure matt’s name doesn’t get dragged into the wrong that was done. just, please pray... he’s strong. he’s a fighter.
adding, you are more than welcome to share this post or whatever you feel the need to do. We believe in the power of prayer & also it needed to be said that these people did this to him.. he was just sitting in his car... like every other teenage boy does.
please come together with us and lift our Matthew in prayer.
Two boys, one 13 years old and other 14, were arrested and booked with attempted first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery in connection with the shooting.
Matthew Carter, a senior at Comeaux High, is a member of the football team and the soccer team, friends tell us.
Nichole Carter says she's organized blood drives for her brother, and asks that the community continue to pray for a miracle for Matthew.
A gathering of supporters for Matthew congregated outside of Lourdes where he is being treated. There the group consisting of friends and Comeaux High students, held a prayer vigil. A large wooden cross stood above the heads of those gathered below which are facing Matthew's room.
Nichole said her brother and her family feels the love and support of the community.
"There's not enough words...it's gut wrenching what we're going through, but it's heart warming to see how many people he's effected. We know how great our Matt Matt is."
The family and others inside the hospital looked down onto the crowd.
"We are pushing and praying for Matt," said Nichole Carter, Matthew's sister. "Y'all don't stop praying for Matt...please, we're begging. Matt can have a miracle, okay."
