Two boys, ages 13 and 17, are facing first-degree murder charges in the beating death with a bat of a developmentally disabled man on Saturday, Tucson police said.
Officers were called at about noon Nov. 12 to the 3800 block of East Fairmount Street, near North Alvernon Way, for a report of an assault. At the scene they found an unresponsive man with blunt force injuries. The man was taken to Banner-University Medical Center, with life-threatening injuries, police said in a news release Thursday.
Detectives determined that the victim, identified as Rabi Magar, 37, was approached by four juvenile teens, armed with a baseball bat and a BB gun, while he was sitting outside. One of the teens pointed the BB gun at Magar while the other assaulted him with the bat. The two other juveniles ran away as the assault took place, police said.
Magar tried to run away but the teen with the bat, identified by police as the 13-year-old boy, chased him with the bat and continued the assault. The remaining teen then left the scene, police said.
The following day, police identified the group of teens as the 17-year-old boy who had the BB gun, the 13-year-old boy with the bat and two 15-year-old boys, who were present but did not take part in the attack. Detectives served a search warrant on a home and arrested the 13-year-old on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder. He was taken to the Pima County Juvenile Detention Center.
Magar remained in the hospital receiving treatment for his injuries and was placed on life support, police said. On Monday, Nov. 14, he died from his injuries, police said. Magarโs family told detectives that he was developmentally disabled and was virtually non-verbal.
Detectives then amended the charges against the 13-year-old boy to first-degree murder and he remains in the juvenile detention center. The 17-year-old male was also charged with suspicion of first-degree murder and he was booked into the Pima County jail. He is being held on a $1 million bond. The names of the two suspects have not been released yet.
Detectives will present their findings, including those involving the actions of the two 15-year-olds, to the Pima County Attorneyโs Office for further review.
