Brothers accused of beating man to death with baseball bats over parking spot dispute

David West, Alfred West held without bond on murder charges

David West, 64, (left) and Alfred West, 56, are accused of killing a man in Fort Lauderdale with a machete.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Two brothers have been arrested on murder charges following the killing of a man Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, authorities said.

David West, 64, and Alfred West, 56, are being held without bond.

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According to prosecutors, the victim and the West brothers have been in an ongoing dispute about the victim parking his car in the street in front of the brothers' home when doing lawn work.

Fort Lauderdale police spokesperson Casey Liening confirmed the killing occurred around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 2300 block of Northwest 14th Street.

According to an arrest report, officers arrived at the scene and found the victim with critical injuries about his head and body. 

He was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where he later died.

A witness told officers she saw the West brothers beating the victim in the head with baseball bats as the victim appeared to be unresponsive.

She said she screamed at the suspects to stop because they were going to kill him.

Police said the West brothers continued to beat the victim as the witness called authorities.

They were both taken into custody and admitted to being in an ongoing dispute with the victim over a parking issue, authorities said.

Police said the brothers confessed to approaching the victim with baseball bats, at which time the victim parked his lawn mower and armed himself with a machete.

The brothers admitted to fighting with the victim, disarming him and beating him with baseball bats, authorities said.

The brothers are being held at the Broward County Main Jail. 


 


About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.