NOTE: This item has been updated to reflect new information obtained from charging documents.
A 73-year-old cab driver who was assaulted in Hampden while returning home from work in April has died, police said.
John Russell Sandy, of the 800 block of W. 35th St., had gotten off work and was walking home in the 3500 block of Elm Ave. on April 18 when he was repeatedly struck from behind with a tire iron, police said. Officers responded at about 4 a.m. and saw him lying in the street, suffering from a fractured skull, multiple broken bones to his left hand and bruises covering most of his body.
Sandy was taken to Sinai Hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced dead Tuesday morning at Johns Hopkins Bayview, and the medical examiner ruled that his death was the result of complications from his injuries, police said.
Police said a suspect, 29-year-old Bobby Wisner, was charged in June with attempted first-degree murder. According to charging documents, Sandy identified his attacker as "Bobby," who he said was the brother of a man who lived with him. He slipped into a coma, but eventually recovered and identified Wisner from a photo lineup.
The charges against Wisner, who is being held without bond, will likely be upgraded. A motive for the attack was not disclosed in court records.
Wisner, also of the 800 block of W. 35th St., has also been charged in two other assaults, according to court records. Wisner has faced multiple assault and robbery charges in the city and Baltimore County but has only one conviction, receiving a 10 year sentence with seven years suspended in 1999.
Sandy's killing brings the city's total to 109 for the year, down 12 percent from the same point last year. There hasn't been a slaying since Friday, after the first nine days of July saw nine homicides.