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A 51-year-old delivery driver was beaten to death by a naked man armed with firewood, according to police in Texas.
The victim, Scott Jackson, was delivering the firewood Saturday in Fort Worth when he was attacked, WFAA in the Dallas-Forth Worth area reported.
"As we were loading up the wheelbarrow, this random guy shows up and gets directly in my face and confronts me and accuses me of being on his property, being in his house, and he never wants to see us again," the man receiving the delivery, who wished to remain anonymous, told WFAA. He had been stocking up on firewood ahead of a winter storm.
He said they asked the naked man, later identified by police as Chrisantus Omondi, to leave so they could all get out of the cold.
According to an arrest warrant, that's when Omondi, 27, grabbed a piece of firewood and hit Jackson in the head before turning toward the other man.
"When he was pursuing me and attacking me, I was looking at death in the face," said the witness, who escaped and called 911.
Court documents indicate Omondi returned to an Airbnb down the street, where he'd rented a single room, according to WFAA. A tenant in a different room told police Omondi, still naked and yelling threats, then tried to force his way into her room. Police arrived and said they used a Taser on him after he refused to follow their commands.
Omondi, who is facing a murder charge, is in jail on $300,000 bond.
Jackson "was also a doting grandfather and the kind of dad who danced to make his daughter blush," WFAA reported.
"I'd be like, 'Dad, you're so embarrassing,' and I wish I could just tell him that so bad. Just embarrass me one more time. Annoy me one more time. Just bug me," Jackson's daughter, Kasey DeLeon, told WFAA.
DeLeon has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses.
"He took somebody that I'll never be able to call," she added. "I'll never be able to see again, and I just want my dad to get the justice that he deserves because he went out in a very bad way."
DeLeon says she's torn over how harsh the penalty should be. She wants to forgive, she says, but she's not there yet.
Omondi, also allegedly assaulted the homeowner, threatened a guest at a nearby Airbnb and seemed to be under the influence of an unknown substance, according to a police affidavit quoted by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
When officers arrived, they found Jackson dead in the front yard with injuries to his head and upper body. The homeowner who witnessed the assault, was treated and released from a hospital, police said.
In the arrest warrant affidavit, the homeowner told police he contacted the victim, whom he referred to as "Scotty," to purchase firewood.
Jackson arrived in a U-Haul filled with firewood and began to unload the vehicle, when the victim and witness were approached by Omondi. The suspect was holding a key and said, "This is my house, I have the key right here," according to the warrant.
Jackson and the witness told Omondi to leave, and that's when the suspect picked up a piece of wood and immediately struck Jackson in the head, the witness told police.
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more