A man accused of hitting a 50-year-old pedestrian with his car and then beating him with a brick in Brockton, Massachusetts, over the weekend faced a judge Monday.
The incident occurred just before 9 a.m. Saturday at 65 North Main St., Brockton police said.
When officers arrived, they found Stuart Smith unresponsive in front of a Toyota Rav 4, police said. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
"He was a beacon of light to his friends and family," the victim's brother Damien Smith told NBC10 Boston.
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The shocked family said Stuart struggled with mental health his entire life after he was hit by a car as a child.
A preliminary investigation involving witness accounts and surveillance footage led detectives to determine that Vasco Semedo, 45, was behind the wheel of the Rav 4 when he ran into Smith and then backed up and drove into him again.
Prosecutors say Semedo hit Smith twice with his Rav 4 Saturday morning, running down him a second time as he struggled to get to his feet while hitting a building in the process. That’s when prosecutors say a brick became his weapon of choice.
The 45-year-old was arrested on scene and initially charged with attempted murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury and negligent operation of a motor vehicle. After Smith died, the charge was upgraded to murder.
Smith is well-known in the North Main Street neighborhood where the accident occurred, all of it caught on surveillance video. About a half dozen people saw what happened and held the 45-year-old defendant down until police arrived and arrested him.
"Everybody knew him, and just came to surround him and help him and they kept the perpetrator there so he couldn’t leave. I think that speaks volumes to my brother’s character," Rosemary Schneider, the victim's sister, said.
Police haven't said if Semedo and Smith were known to each other or provided any information on a possible motive.
Semodo was ordered held without bail. He is scheduled to return to court next month.
