Dorchester student who was charged with beating up principal ruled competent to stand trial

A Suffolk Superior Court judge today declared Laurette LeRouge, 19, competent to stand trial on charges she beat the principal at the Henderson K-12 Inclusion School into unconsciousness in 2021, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

However, Judge Michael Coyne also set a March 29 hearing at which LeRouge might change her current not-guilty plea to counts of assault and battery on a person over age 60 and on a public employee.

LeRouge was initially charged as a juvenile, which would have kept her name from being made public, but the DA's office convinced a grand jury to indict her as a "youthful offender," which made her name public and made her eligible for an adult sentence should she go to trial and be convicted.

Innocent, etc.