New Details Released About Brutal Beating Of Local Homeless Man
Posted: 3:44 pm EST February 9, 2006Updated: 4:03 pm EST February 9, 2006
HOLLY HILL, Fla. -- More information was released Thursday about the brutal beating of a homeless man in Holly Hill.Warren Messner, 15, Christopher Scamahorn, 14, and 18-year-olds Jeffery Spurgeon and Justin Stearns have all pleaded guilty to murdering the man in May of last year. A fifth boy, 15-year-old Phi Huynh is charged with a lesser crime.Since all of the boys but one has made plea agreements, the state released the unedited version of investigators journey to find the people responsible for Michael Roberts' murder. The newly released documents tell more about how the boys interacted with one another.The father of Spurgeon tells how the boys had been causing trouble in Holly Hill since middle school, how they wanted to form a gang, but didn't know what to call it. He is the same man who urged his son to come forward and admit what he did.In the transcript, he said, "I hate to rat out my kid, but you've got to pay for what you did."Warren Messner did not have the same advice. In his interrogation, he tried to blame it on the others.
"I didn't tell nobody nothin', because I didn't do that much," he said.That's not so, according to released transcripts from the other boys. Spurgeon tells how the 300-pound Messner jumped on the homeless man, crushing his ribs.According to the reports, the boys bragged about what they did. Scamahorn and Spurgeon even wanted to get tear shaped tattoos, which is a gang sign that you have murdered a man. But before that could happen, friends and family members turned them in.In the new report, Spurgeon's mother said her son bragged to her about killing the man and leaving the body and asked if she needed anyone taken out.The four boys will be sentenced in April. The fifth, Phi Huynh, has not yet pleaded to his aggravated battery charge. He is out on bond.
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