A Florida dealership employee is facing a second-degree murder charge after allegedly striking his co-worker in the head with a metal baseball bat. The co-worker died a week later.
Steve Tilbury, 26, struck Charles Cummings, 50, while the two were at work Nov. 23 at Ritchey Cadillac Buick GMC in Daytona Beach, Fla., according media reports and a statement from local police.
Cummings died Tuesday at Halifax Health Medical Center. The Daytona Beach Police Department said charges for Tilbury, who was initially charged with two felony counts of aggravated battery, were changed that day to second-degree murder.
Larry Kelly, the dealership’s general manager, said in a statement to the Daytona Beach News-Journal: “Our understanding is that a service department team member from Ritchey Cadillac Buick GMC was attacked by a fellow team member resulting in critical injuries. Sadly, he later succumbed to these injuries.”
Automotive News has reached out to Ritchey for further comment and to confirm whether or not Tilbury is still employed there.
Police said Tilbury, of Leesburg, Fla., showed up to work in his truck, parked in a maintenance bay, pulled the bat from the rear and proceeded to hit Cummings, of Deltona, as he sat at a desk.
Dealership employees “subdued” Tilbury and took the metal bat from him, police said.
Tilbury and Cummings may have gotten into an argument at work the day before, police said.
Tilbury is being held without bond at Volusia County Jail. His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 17, according to court records. It was not clear yet whether an attorney had been named to represent Tilbury.
