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.
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