DECATUR — A defendant is facing attempted murder charges after police said he fractured a Decatur man’s skull by beating him with a toilet tank lid, a guitar and a vacuum cleaner.
Justin L. Tribby, 27, of Argenta has yet to enter a plea on the attempted murder charge and a further count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
A sworn Decatur police affidavit said the attack dates to the night of December 10 at the victim’s house in the 100 block of South Linden Avenue.
Recommended for you…
The affidavit, signed by Officer Dawson Roberts, said police arrived to find the 40-year-old victim covered in blood and blood stains spattered “throughout the residence, on the floor and walls.”
Roberts described the victim’s face as badly swollen and bruised as he was being worked on at HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital. “DPD officers observed a large laceration to the top of his head,” said Roberts.
“While at St. Mary’s, he received seven staples to the laceration on his head. Dr. Garcia advised that (the victim) had a brain bleed and a fractured skull down to his eye socket.”
The victim is quoted as telling police that he had let Tribby inside his home on the night of the attack, but the affidavit does not give a reason why he did this. The victim then described Tribby suddenly attacking him, hitting him in the head “approximately 16 times” using the toilet tank lid, the guitar and vacuum as makeshift weapons. No motive for the assault was given.
Tribby was found and arrested July 11 and remains in custody at the Macon County Jail with bail set at $100,000, requiring him to post a bond of $10,000 to be released.
He is due Aug. 3 in Macon County Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing.
Updated mugshots from the Herald & Review
Joseph A. Williams
Joseph A. Williams faces preliminary charges of aggravated resisting a peace officer, obstruction of justice, possession of machine gun and weapon by a felon, aggravated discharge of a weapon and unlawful use of weapon, and attempted murder of a peace officer in connection with the shooting of a Decatur police officer on Jan. 8, 2022. READ MORE
William A. Hosea
William A. Hosea faces preliminary charges of reckless discharge of a firearm and endangering the life of a child in connection with the Jan. 6 shooting of a 3-year-old child. READ MORE
Randolph Hayes
Randolph Hayes is pleading not guilty to a charge of burglary. Prosecutors allege he stole a landline phone and then tried to sell it back to the victim. He was on parole at the time after having been convicted of an earlier burglary offense.
Byron D. Theus
Byron D. Theus Jr. is pleading not guilty to multiple counts of home invasion, armed robbery and aggravated kidnapping in connection with a home invasion the night of Nov. 20, 2018. READ MORE
Jetrevius O. Jarrett
Jetrevius O. Jarrett has been arrested on first-degree murder charges in connection with the fatal Christmas Eve shooting of Efrem O. Jones. READ MORE
Phillip Gehrken
Phillip J. Gehrken, 52, of Forsyth has pleaded not guilty to three alternate counts of first degree murder stemming from the July 11 fatal shooting of 51-year-old victim Kevin Cooper. READ THE STORY HERE.
Emmanuel White
Emmanuel White, 18, is charged in Moultrie County with two counts of armed violence, possession of a stolen firearm, unlawful possession of a stolen/converted motor vehicle, possession of methamphetamine and defacing identification marks on a firearm. READ THE STORY
Defendant was sentenced to 36 months probation in November after pleading guilty to possession of a stolen firearm in a plea deal that saw all other charges dismissed. He was also sentenced to 149 days in jail with credit for 149 days already served.
Aaron L. Hand
Aaron L. Hand, 33, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Jan. 20 after pleading guilty to a charge of committing aggravated kidnapping while armed with a knife. The case dates to Jan. 13, 2021, when Hand, a registered sex predator, tried to abduct a female customer of the Macon gas station where he was then working.
