Posted on 09/09/2010 10:16:38 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
TEMPE, AZ - An 81-year-old Tempe man was beaten to death by teenagers while attending his granddaughter’s wedding in Virginia, in an apparently random attack.
George Baker’s son Gregg Baker, whose daughter was getting married, remembers his father’s last day. “[He was] hugging his granddaughter at her wedding reception, telling her how beautiful she looked, telling her how much he loved her.”
“We are strong, but it still makes me sick,” said Leslie Gahagan, the bride. “How could you do that to an old man?”
Two 16-year-olds and a 13-year-old have been charged with murder. Prosecutors say they will decide in the next few days whether to charge the teenagers as adults.
The crime sent shock waves through Lynchburg, Virginia, but it broke hearts in Tempe.
“We mowed our lawns together and talked all the time,” said Baker’s friend and neighbor of 33 years, Chuck McIntyre, in tears. “Boy, I’m sure going to miss the guy, I know that.”
Investigators are calling the beating “mean spirited,” but have not said what the boys’ motive was. They did not take Baker’s wallet.
“He wouldn’t hurt a soul,” said Shannon Cipolla, who was also friends with Baker for three decades and worked with him at a golf course across the street from his home. “If they were after money, he probably would have handed them his wallet, and that would have been it.”
“I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to him personally,” said Gregg Baker.
For the couple who brought the family together to celebrate their marriage, and ended up mourning a grandfather whose life was cut short by teenagers, there is some peace in his last words.
Gregg Baker said his father told a pastor at the hospital, “If I die tonight, I die a happy man.”
Biggest reason why anyone who looks even slightly vulnerable should have a concealed carry license.
Who,what,when, where and how? The press leaves us in the dark as to the names or description of the perps. They need to be charged as adults. Maybe a good internet reporter..local Freeper..can enlighten us.
Sad,Sad,Sad.
Immigration status of the little bastards anyone?
License or no license, we have turned our country into a zoo full of predators, and people must be prepared to kill them when necessary.
Of race was the victim and the murderers?
Immigration status of the little bastards anyone?
____________
Native born by the names. Probably black by the names, victim white by photo. Motive: to impress some girls
.
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-story-lynchburg-murder-090810,0,4686530.story
Could NOT possibly be a hate crime with BO advising seniors it may be time for the blue pill.
From the Lynchburg post advance:
An act of teenage male bravado on the part of at least one boy may have led to Sunday’s beating death of an 81-year-old man visiting Lynchburg for his granddaughter’s wedding, police said.
Two 16-year-olds and a 13-year-old were arrested Tuesday and charged with the murder of George Leroy Baker III, of Tempe, Ariz.
Police found Baker unconscious on the 1100 block of Main Street about 11 p.m. Sunday. Baker suffered “significant head injuries,” Lynchburg Police Capt. Todd Swisher said.
He was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, where he died Monday, Swisher said.
“This seems to be an unprovoked, random violent act,” he said. “What a tragic event.”
Though police have said they are prohibited by law from naming juveniles, a search warrant filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court on Tuesday identified Kenneth Davis as the person who ran up to Baker “in an aggressive manner” before witnesses heard what sounded like a blow to Baker’s body and saw Davis running away.
Witnesses told police they heard Davis say he would hit the first person he saw in order to impress girls he was with, the affidavit from Lynchburg Det. Todd Rodes states.
“A witness dining at the Hash House saw a young black male kick the victim in the face after he had already been knocked to the ground,” the affidavit states. “The victim was unconscious upon bystanders coming to his aide.”
The affidavit states witnesses identified Davis by name and in a photo lineup as participating in the beating.
Investigators took a red and black “Miami” jersey, two pairs of shoes and several pairs of pants and shorts from a unit at the Lynchburg High Apartments on Park Avenue listed as Davis’ home, according to the search warrant.
The warrant was executed about half an hour before police say the first 16-year-old was arrested, at about 1 a.m. Tuesday.
The other two teens were arrested around 4 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Their identities remain unknown.
Baker was staying at the Craddock-Terry Hotel for the wedding Sunday and left for an evening walk downtown, Swisher said.
Matt Addington, a photographer at the wedding who said he was a friend and former roommate of the groom, identified the couple as Leslie Baker and Joe Gahagen, who he said were both Liberty University students.
Addington described George Baker as “the life of the party. He seemed very spry for his age, full of life.”
Tara Cofer, co-owner of Tresca on Eighth, where the wedding reception was held, worked with Baker and his family for two days planning the reception. She described Baker as a gentleman with a quick wit who “definitely did not act or look his age.”
“It’s heartbreaking for this family,” Cofer said. “To think, that such a joyous time was marred.”
Kimberly Christner, chief executive officer of Beck Co. Hotels, which manages the Craddock-Terry, said she didn’t believe the slaying would have a negative impact on patronage, “because it didn’t have anything to do with the hotel,” but refused to comment when asked if she felt the area around the hotel was safe.
Swisher said the downtown area is generally safe and called the slaying “unusual.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Doucette said anyone 14 or older charged with murder in Virginia is automatically prosecuted by law in circuit court if a juvenile court judge finds probable cause to support the charges. Prosecution in circuit court exposes them to the possibility of adult-term prison sentences.
This is the third homicide in Lynchburg this year after the city went murder-free in 2009. Derrick Lee Payne, 25, was shot and killed near 17th and Floyd streets in May. Theodore Curtis Poe, 20, was shot and killed in the 400 block of Lakewood Street in July.
The worst attack on old people is Obamacare
Political correctness forbids us to talk about ethnicity or immigration status or whether it was a targeted attack. We’re just supposed to be sad about another allegedly “random” attack by “random” individuals, who have no apparent motive for doing what they do.
We are hurtling toward lawless Mad Max status at break neck speed. Hundreds of South American protestors throwing rocks and yelling at an LA police station (in a foreign language), 25 gang members show up at a Long Island man’s home threatening to kill his wife and kids (he gets arrested for firing a warning shot, gang members walk) and this...three small examples just in the last few days.
If nothing like that is mentioned... you can bet it was blacks or Muslims that did it. The press spends 100% of it’s time trying to cover up for anything bad those 2 groups do, and hyping even the smallest achievements.
Won’t solve the problem of predators among us. At 81, he may well have been still able to defend himself with a firearm, or maybe not. However, if you live long enough, there comes a point where you can’t.
Animals.
Photos from MSM?
more insight... http://www.wset.com/Global/story.asp?S=13122814
Of course my blue pill is Viagra. Viva Viagra as they say.
We all look slightly vulnerable when outnumbered three to one.
Hate crime. Hey, Holder, what are you gonna do about this?
That is what I want to know...and NOW.
When I cannot pull the trigger, I will be dead. If need be I will file it down to be a hair trigger. No punk, black, white, yellow, or brown trying to impress his girlfriend is going to be able to ding her after I get through with him.
Let's see, what color were the attackers and what color was the old man? That could explain motive right there.
So, this is a hate crime, right?
Hate crime? You got to be kidding...this is just getting back, nothing more.
If I were this guys family, these three would not have to worry about how long they sentenced to prison...they would have to worry it was not enough to out last me.
Nothing. (I'd say boys will be boys, but that might be interpreted as racist)...
good point, the responsibility of the press should be to give the public a PROFILE of the perpetrators and investigate the circumstances based on facts, instead we get a social commentary based on feelings
I don’t remember hearing about senseless crimes like this growing up. Maybe they happened, but it sure seems like things are getting worse. I really think we are nearing the “end times”.
“An act of teenage male bravado”
Real tough beating up an 81 year old, punk. Hope someone makes you their ##### in prison for the rest of your worthless and hopefully short painful punk life.
/clearly directed at the thug, not Freeper Mouton
so then, it was an apparently random act...... of racism
This is so sad. I am good friends with the son, Gregg, and this was a nice, Christian family. What a horrible end to such a beautiful weekend.
I grew up near Lynchburg. Normally it is a pretty safe town (no murders in 2009). Stuff like this is incredibly rare there. I agree that he should’ve been packing if he was going to walk around downtown on that end of Main Street late at night, but where he got attacked is not the “bad” part of downtown—that’s several blocks down the street. It looks like a stupid, random crime committed by three stupid kids that deserve the maximum penalty for their capital stupidity. And yeah, I wouldn’t mind seeing the 16-year-olds ride the needle for it. I don’t know whether that’ll happen, but I’m 95% sure they’ll get charged as adults and do huge time for it. The 13-year-old, I’m not sure about.
BTW, they can’t identify the perps due to the laws in Virginia restricting identification of minors accused of crimes.
}:-)4
I saw a picture online at an AZ news site. All Caucasian.
"while attending his granddaughter’s wedding in Virginia, in an apparently random attack. "
a case of YELLOW JOURNALISM if there's ever been one
In a country full of random murders, the government has cover to selectively and anonymously eliminate inconvenient people so invisibly that plausible deniability isn’t even needed.
“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards,” Holder said
What WILL be Holder’s response?
“Holder”: Of What?
“Lynchburg High Apartments”...I know that place. It’s the old 1930s city high school converted into a low-income housing project. I’m not surprised at least one of those punks lived there. It’s also within walking distance (less than a mile IIRC) of the attack.
}:-)4
It use to be enough to simply knock a man down and declare victory. What I don't understand know is why thugs feel the need to kick and stomp on someone's head once they are knocked down (as happened in this case). It just makes me sick thinking about it.
Obviously, this was a racially motivated acting out of typical rap lyrics.
I pass through Lynchburg at least twice a month and we always stop. I was really surprised by this. Crap can happen anywhere.
“mean spirited,”
Ha.
Soulless savage violence, maybe.
Spirited?
Mean?
Ha.
The article said at least one was black and he kicked the old man in the face as he was lying there.
Unless this was a wrong photo. This story has come out a few times and each time with new information added. Correct me if I am wrong about the teens who did this.
Do you have a link?
From this article:
"A witness dining at the Hash House saw a young black male kick the victim in the face after he had already been knocked to the ground,” the affidavit states."
I did last night and I just looked and cannot find any pictures. As I said in a very recent post, unless what I saw was wrong......and this story has been reprinted at least twice now and with newer info. each time.
Sorry.
I grew up north of Lynchburg in Amherst, and then lived in Lynchburg for four more years after college. I know the spot where this happened, I used to do computer work in the furniture store at 11th and Main. When I lived there 20 years ago, I wouldn’t have gone walking around downtown at 11 pm on a bet, even on the “better” end of downtown where he was. There just wasn’t anything there, the sidewalks rolled up after 6 pm and the place got left to the bums. They’ve been working hard on “downtown revitalization” for 25 years now and the hotel where this man was staying (the Craddock-Terry, in an old converted shoe factory three blocks away) is part of it.
It’s a stupid and senseless attack. Racial? Maybe. Doesn’t matter whether it is or not to me. A good man is dead, families are shattered, and a good city’s rep wrecked, because a couple of teenage punks wanted to show off for some girls. God save us.
}:-)4
After they are found guilty, they should be taken behind the courthouse & shot like the rabid dogs they are.
To young to die
To old to fight
Have gun will use
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