PONTIAC (WWJ) -- Authorities are seeking a first-degree, premeditated murder charge following the death of a homeless man beaten at a Pontiac gas station over the summer.
Blake Sanders, 36, reportedly never regained consciousness after the attack, about 5 a.m. at the Sunoco at 45054 Woodward Ave. in Pontiac.
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office says 37-year-old Rashaan Denee Redmond of Pontiac met Sanders at the gas station, offered him a dollar to put air in his tires, then “savagely” beat him.
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Investigators say while Sanders was hunched over the front right tire, Redmond became agitated and punched him to the ground before kicking and stomping him in the head for over a minute, along with slapping and spitting on him. Redmond then drove away in his gold and beige GMC Suburban without a license plate.
Deputies arrived and found Sanders unconscious who was foaming at the mouth and having difficulty breathing. Sanders was hospitalized with major brain trauma.
After the victim's death while in hospice care at a relative's home on Wednesday, detectives are now asking prosecutors to charge Redmond with first-degree murder along with his original charge of assault with intent to murder.
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Sheriff Mike Bouchard said it is impossible to comprehend how life has so little meaning to the defendant.
“Mr. Sanders was the victim of a deliberate and merciless attack at the hands of this defendant,” Bouchard said. “Such violence against an innocent victim who had done nothing wrong yet was attacked with unimaginable ferocity and anger. It is impossible to comprehend how life has so little meaning to this defendant.”
Redmond is currently being held without bond in the Oakland County Jail.