Man charged with murder after Lufkin man dies from baseball bat attack

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KTRE) - A Lufkin man is dead and another in jail following a baseball bat attack in the Rivercrest area.

According to Angelina County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Alton Lenderman, the attack happened on Dec. 6. James Mikel Daugherty, 50, died on Dec. 14 at a Houston hospital.

Michael Anthony Oder Jr., 27, of Lufkin, is charged with murder. The initial charge was aggravated assault. He was arrested on Dec. 7.

According to an arrest affidavit, a witness said Oder heard voices in his head telling him to assault Daugherty.

Oder is also charged with assault causes bodily injury, possession of drug paraphernalia and assault of a public servant. Lenderman said the last offense happened during Oder’s arrest.

According to the arrest affidavit, Oder went to Daugherty’s house to borrow a cigarette. A witness said Oder believed he was hearing voices and the voices told him to assault Daugherty.

When deputies responded to the assault call, they found Daugherty lying down on his living room floor with head trauma from the assault. They also found a metal bat leaned up against a wall by a chair in the living room that had a red stain on the top portion of the bat.

The affidavit states Oder admitted to beating Daugherty with the bat.

According to his obituary, Daugherty served as a volunteer firefighter for Rivercrest Redland VFD.

Another arrest affidavit states Oder attacked someone else that day. According to the affidavit, Oder was at CMC Recycling in Angelina County. An employee had been weighing copper brought to him by Oder when Oder suddenly started swinging his arms and fists to try to hit the employee. Oder’s mother managed to push Oder away from the employee.

When the investigating deputy left CMC, he received the call of the assault on Daugherty.

The investigating deputy interviewed Oder about the CMC assault and Oder said he was hearing voices then and assaulted the employee.

Copyright 2021 KTRE. All rights reserved.