PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) –- A 37-year-old homeless man is accused of attempted murder and first-degree assault after a brutal attack left his alleged victim in a medically induced coma with a brain bleed and broken eye sockets, court documents state.
James Lynn Edwards put a stone inside a sock and used it as a homemade sap, Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Chris Mascal wrote in court documents filed Tuesday afternoon.
Portland Police Sgt. Pete Simpson said officers responded to the Plaid Pantry near SE 12th and Morrison Monday afternoon on reports of an assault. Simpson said the victim is also homeless. A motive has not been released.
When the first officer arrived, he found the victim, Kenneth Brummell, lying on his side in front of the store in a “puddle of blood near his head,” Mascal wrote. Brummell had “major face trauma” and was going in and out of consciousness, according to the prosecutor.
The attack was recorded “clearly and vividly,” on surveillance video from the Plaid Pantry. The video shows Edwards hitting Brummell over 10 times with the weapon, Mascal wrote. Witnesses allegedly told police that Edwards “took full swings” at Brummell.
Edwards told Portland Police Assault Detective Arjay Dran that he “put a stone in a sock and hammered this motherf—– up there at the Plaid Pantry,” Mascal wrote. Edwards even demonstrated the strikes to the detective, according to court documents.
Officers found Edwards trying to hide in a booth belonging to a parking attendant at SE 6th and Morrison, police said. When the officer took Edwards into custody at gunpoint, he reportedly said “I want to go see if (Brummell) is OK, or dead on arrival DOA. We’re going to the dead body,” Mascal wrote.
Brummell remains at Oregon Health & Science University with a brain bleed, according to court documents. He reportedly has broken eye sockets and other facial fractures. Doctors put him in a medically induced coma and he will remain in that condition for “several days, if not several weeks,” Mascal wrote.
Edwards was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on charges of attempted murder and first-degree assault. His next court date is May 20.