LAKELAND, Fla. – A man who was beaten at a convenience store that he worked at in Lakeland, has died from his injuries.
The 58-year-old man had remained hospitalized since the assault in January and had never regained consciousness. The findings of an autopsy, conducted on March 9, 2021, determined the cause of death to be trauma to the head, and the manner of death was classified as a homicide.
Mandel Baker, age 35, is now facing an additional charge of Manslaughter (F2). Baker remains incarcerated in the Polk County Jail.
On Friday, January 29, 2021, at approximately 5:36 p.m., officers were called to the Food Mart/Mobil Gas Station, located at 1615 West Memorial Boulevard. Inside they found an adult male motionless on the floor with a laceration to the head. According to a witness, a man, later identified as Baker, had been in the store just prior to asking for cigarettes. Baker had asked the store clerk to give him cigarettes for payment at a later date.
The clerk denied Baker’s request. Baker then approached another store employee with the same request, and he was denied again. Baker then ran toward the employee punching him in the face. The victim, age 58, fell back and hit his head on the hard floor surface, sustaining critical life-threatening injuries.
He was transported to Lakeland Regional Health for treatment in critical condition. On March 7th, 2021, the 58-year-old man died from those injuries.
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