KERN COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) — A man was recently convicted of hitting a 61-year-old man, causing him to fall and later die.
The Kern County District Attorney’s Office announced that a jury found Jeffrey Sellers guilty on Aug. 12 of multiple charges, including involuntary manslaughter, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, and battery causing serious bodily injury. He is set to be sentenced on Sept. 10 and faces up to nine years in prison.
According to prosecutors, on Sept. 20, 2022, the 18-year-old defendant and his girlfriend were walking with an unleashed pit bull who ran into Michael Davis’ yard. Davis reportedly asked Sellers to get the dog, and an argument ensued.
The district attorney’s office said the dog was restrained, and when Davis walked away, the defendant “cursed at him.” According to prosecutors, Davis turned around, and Sellers went up to him and “forcefully punched Mr. Davis in his face, causing him to go limp, fall to the ground, and strike the back of his head on the concrete.” Sellers and his girlfriend purportedly fled the area.
Following the attack, Davis had emergency brain surgery and never regained consciousness. He remained in a coma until he died in June 2023. An autopsy determined he died from “complications due to blunt force head trauma stemming from the punch.”
The defense reportedly argued that Davis was armed with a bat during the attack. According to prosecutors, a forensic pathologist said the victim “did not fall to the ground because he was punched but because the emotional stress of the argument caused him to faint and fall to the ground.”
In a statement, Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said, “Sellers’ decision to violently assault a man in his own driveway, who was justifiably upset over the unleashed dog, was senseless and tragic. The jury correctly saw through the false claims of self-defense and the cause of death put forward by the defense. Sellers’ disregard for the value of Mr. Davis’ life warrants the prison sentence that he should receive.”
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