Teen Accused In Fatal Beating Cries In Court
Boys Face Murder, Aggravated Battery Charges
POSTED: Monday, January 16, 2006
UPDATED: 3:12 pm EST January 16,2006
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Looking much different than the violent attacker that police say was caught on surveillance videotape, a 17-year-old cried quietly in a courtroom Monday, as he sat looking back at his mother.
Thomas Daugherty is facing charges of murder and aggravated battery. Police said Daugherty and Brian Hooks, 18, committed a series of brutal baseball bat beatings that killed one homeless man and seriously injured two others.
At a hearing Monday morning, Daugherty's attorney, Jerry Williams, asked the court to give Daugherty a psychological examination. When asked about the case, Williams said that he didn't have any comment for the media, but he said that as he learned more about the investigation he would comment later.
Bridget Daugherty also would not comment on her son's arrest and said only, "Talk to his attorney."
She sat in the back of the courtroom and mouthed the words, "I love you," to her son.
Police said that after a surveillance video of the baseball bat beating of a homeless was shown on the news, they received more than 100 tips that led them to former Plantation High School students Daugherty and Hooks.
Archive Video: Homeless Man Beaten By Bat-Wielding AssailantsHooks was also scheduled to appear in court Monday, but his hearing was rescheduled for Tuesday after his attorney did not show up.
The parents of Norris Gaynor, the 46-year-old man killed in the beatings, drove down from Pensacola to identify the body and arrange for a funeral. Samuel Gaynor said he and his wife are outraged about what happened to their son. In a conversation with a Local 10 reporter, Gaynor said his son was beaten beyond recognition.
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