Background: A section of the 400 block of East Market Street in Louisville, Kentucky (Google Maps). Inset: Julius Howard (Louisville Metro Police Department).
A suspect in Kentucky is accused of beating a man close to death with a wooden plank while telling him to "leave his country."
Julius Howard, 49, has been charged with first-degree assault, the Louisville Metro Police Department announced. He is being held by the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections.
Just before 2 a.m. on Tuesday, police were dispatched to the 400 block of East Market Street in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, near a McDonald's restaurant. Dispatchers had told officers that they had received a report of a fight.
The officers apparently arrived to find a man on nearby South Jackson Street "suffering from injuries he sustained from an assault." Police cared for him until emergency responders arrived and brought him to a nearby hospital with "critical and life-threatening injuries."
"Due to the severity of the injuries, LMPD's Homicide Unit was notified and has assumed control of this investigation," the police department said. Part of the investigation included speaking with witnesses, who appeared to give detectives an idea of a possible motive.
The suspect had told the victim to "leave his country" before kicking him and striking him repeatedly with a wooden two-by-four witnesses said, per local CBS affiliate WLKY. Officers "canvassed the area, located a suspect, and detained him," police stated.
The suspect — identified as Howard — reportedly had blood on his shoes when he was arrested. He allegedly admitted to "fighting" the victim.
Howard was booked into the local jail and was scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on Wednesday.