3 charged in walker's beating

A fourth person is wanted in the attack on a Hernando man.

By CHANDRA BROADWATER, Times Staff Writer
Published September 26, 2007

The Pasco County Sheriff's dive team searches a pond off of Cortez Blvd. for evidence in the beating of John Kelly. Three men were arrested in connection to the beating and indicated that they threw Kelly's backpack and the ski masks they wore during the robbery into the pond.
	[RON THOMPSON | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT Michael Raymond Vann, 23, is charged with attempted murder and armed robbery, among other charges. Anthony Steven Hawkins, 17, faces charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and tampering with physical evidence. Jamie Lynn Tyson, 17, is also charged with attempted murder and armed robbery, among other charges.

BROOKSVILLE - One of them bragged about beating the old man up, taking his backpack and leaving him bloody and unconscious on the side of the road.

That led detectives to three other suspects, some of whom were arrested late Monday and early Tuesday in the armed robbery of 48-year-old John Kelly, known to Hernando motorists as "the walker."

Michael Raymond Vann, 23, and two 17-year-olds, Jamie Lynn Tyson and Anthony Steven Hawkins, were all arrested in the robbery and savage beating of the gray-bearded Kelly last Wednesday night on Cortez Boulevard, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

A fourth person, unnamed and listed as a co-defendant in police reports, had not been arrested by Tuesday evening.

Both Vann and Tyson have been charged with attempted murder and armed robbery, among other charges. Hawkins faces charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and tampering with physical evidence.

On Monday, police heard that Tyson had bragged about robbing Kelly. Detectives went to a home at 9792 Lake Drive in Brooksville, where they ended up questioning Hawkins about the incident. Hawkins and Vann live at the home, while Tyson lives nearby.

Hawkins told police that he and the others decided to rob Kelly after seeing him withdraw money from a Bank of America ATM at Cortez Boulevard and U.S. 19.

Last Wednesday night, they rode bicycles to where they had often seen Kelly walking and waited for him. Then they attacked him after seeing his fast-paced frame wearing his usual orange and yellow reflective vest and black backpack, passing the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative building at 10005 Cortez Blvd.

Hawkins told police that Vann grabbed Kelly and threw him into a ditch in front of the electric company. Both Vann and Tyson beat Kelly in the face and head with wooden sticks that they brought with them. The fourth person punched Kelly.

Meanwhile, Hawkins said that he stayed on the road as a lookout as Vann and Tyson took Kelly's black backpack and $100 from his wallet.

Then the group bicycled back to Lake Drive. Later, another friend took them to Whitehurst Pond on Cortez Boulevard, where they threw Kelly's backpack and the ski masks they wore during the robbery.

Divers searched the roadside pond Tuesday afternoon. Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Donna Black said detectives weren't sure if anything would be found. And while she would not comment on the fourth person involved in the beating, Black said that the case was still under investigation.

Kelly remains in a medically induced coma at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa. After the attack, somehow he got up and went for help. Just after 11 p.m., he stumbled into a Hernando County Fire Rescue station on Ovenbird Drive, not far from where he was beaten.

An eccentric man, Kelly moved into his modest, rusty silver trailer at the end of a quiet street in Weeki Wachee about 10 years ago. With a disdain for cars, he made his way around the county on his feet. Soon he was dubbed "the walker."

Neighbor Victor Pike said that the news of the arrests felt like "100 pounds off the heart." Kelly's brother, George, who also lives in Weeki Wachee, called him Tuesday morning to deliver the news.

"I thank God that they got them," Pike said. "Next to John getting better, this is the greatest thing that could have happened. Now all we can do is give our prayers and back him up."

Chandra Broadwater can be reached at cbroadwater@sptimes.com or 352 848-1432.

[Last modified September 25, 2007, 21:21:28]