Attorney for Homeless Beating Suspect: My Client Didn't Participate

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The attorney for a teenager accused of murder in the fatal beating of a homeless man said Tuesday there is no evidence that his client struck anyone.

Brian Hooks, 18, one of three young men arrested, may have been present and holding a baseball bat when some or all of three homeless men were beaten Thursday, but neither witnesses nor a videotape of one of the beatings have him actually striking anyone, attorney Jeremy Kroll said.

He said two witnesses have told police that Hooks did not strike the man who died, 45-year-old Norris Gaynor. Nor did Hooks strike another man whose attack was captured by a university's security camera and widely broadcast, he said.

"Right now the charges that have been brought against Brian are not reflective of his culpability," Kroll said after his client's bail hearing.

Broward County Magistrate Judge Steven P. DeLuca ordered Hooks held without bail.

On Monday, DeLuca ordered 17-year-old Thomas Daugherty of Plantation held for 21 days under juvenile detention and ordered a psychological examination. Both Hooks and Daugherty were arrested Sunday.

A third suspect, William Ammons, 18, was arrested Monday and charged with aggravated battery causing bodily harm or disability in the beating of Raymond Perez, 49. Ammons was released Tuesday from the Broward County jail on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Hooks and Daugherty face murder charges in the death of Gaynor and aggravated battery charges in the videotaped beating of Jacques Pierre, 58, who was attacked on the Fort Lauderdale campus of Florida Atlantic University. They have not been charged in the attack on Perez.

The security video images of Pierre's beating with what appeared to be baseball bats led to tips that helped police track down Hooks and Daugherty, who turned themselves in to police Sunday, police said.