The hatch-wielding suspect beheaded Jacob Sofa, almost 32, at a bus stop in Toscon, Arizona earlier this month, when he was returning to his hometown of Alabama with his wife.
The suspect, 25-year-old Daniel Michael – has been held in Pima County’s $1 million cash debt on felony assault charges for a seemingly random crime. He is waiting for another court hearing at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, Couch has been hospitalized on life support for the past two weeks since the April 5 attack, and officials say he is not expected to survive the injury.
He and his wife, Kristen Couch, were in California, mourned the loss of their son a year ago. The couple decided to return the cross country to their Arab homelands in Alabama when their lives collapsed in Tucson.
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Jacob Couch is on life support after a hatch-wielding suspect nearly beheaded him at Tucson, Arizona, at the bus stop. (Please fund me)
The attack occurred at 10am, about two miles from the University of Arizona campus, just a block away from Tucson Police Headquarters.
“He has the biggest heart I’ve ever met,” Couch’s younger brother, Luke Couch, told Fox News Digital. “And I really mean that. He was just a caring person. He loved his family. He was really big about his family.”
Authorities have released few details about the potential motives for the crime. Michael’s lawyers at the first bond hearing argued that “self-defense” could not be ruled out when seeking less bonds from judges.
However, the victim’s brother told Fox News Digital that the detective had determined that there was “no evidence to support the self-defense claim.”
“And they said he was trying to grasp the straw and grab anything. So my brother was attacked from behind while he was bent. That’s not self-defense,” Luke Couch said.
“I want this guy to never do this again and other families have to go through what my family has gone through. It hurts so badly to know that he couldn’t protect him because he did it with a heartbeat to see my brother lying in a hospital bed and not moving and doing anything,” the brother told Fox News Digital. “As a family, we want quick justice.”
“My brother was a nice guy and he didn’t deserve this. No one deserves to attack hatch on the side of his neck. It’s very heinous,” he added.
Investigators and witnesses said Luke Couch further told him he was told what had happened.
“They were on their way home from Los Angeles. Their bus stopped in Tucson. They always wanted to see the desert,” Luke Couch said of his brother and sister-in-law. “Someone told me to wake up, and my brother told him to care about his own business, you know, they didn’t do anything and caused no trouble. And Kristen could tell the guy was really upset, so she told him he was going to get up and they were going to leave.”
Daniel Michael appeared at a bond hearing in Pima County, Arizona, on felony assault charges for a hand-hat attack on Jacob Couch. (Pima County)
“My brother had just got off the bus and had leaned over to collect things, and had his suitcase and belongings,” he told Fox News Digital. “He bends to collect things, and the man comes behind him and shakes a hatch. And the witness says he lifts an x over his head and makes it a swan.”
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Luke Couch said his brother has recently begun to open his eyes a little, but hasn’t shown much improvement. Jacob is also the father of a 15-year-old daughter.
His brother said doctors evaluated him as limited brain function after suffering significant blood loss.
“Doctors don’t give us much hope,” Luke Couch told Fox News Digital. “We are a small family in a small town in Alabama, but we believe God can move the mountains and the power of prayer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the office of Democrat Pima County Attorney Laura Conover for comment but did not immediately respond.
Luke Couch wondered why Michael was not first charged with attempted murder. He also had a message for the prosecutor to handle the case.
“Don’t slip this through the cracks. Don’t let this slip through the cracks as a family. Don’t let this guy come out and do it again,” he said. “If anyone is on the fence about whether it is ethical or itself for ‘eyes to look at’ or more severe punishment, I would suggest they go and see my brother lying in a hospital bed. ”
“This country is not as safe as we thought it would,” continued Luke Couch. “From my understanding, this has become a Tucson pattern, so don’t think we can get away with this to these criminals. I’m not from this area and I certainly don’t know, but I can talk about what happened.
Family set a gofundme To cover the costs of staying near a hospital in Tucson.
In a statement obtained by Fox News Digital, the Tucson Police Department said about 10am on April 5th, officers found “an unresponsive man suffering sharp trauma on the southeast corner of East Broadway Boulevard and South Sixth Avenue.”
“Bytesmen tried to provide assistance to the victims, and officers took over life-saving efforts until the Tucson Fire Department arrived. TFD took the victim to Banner University Medical Center with a life-threatening injury.
Detectives from the Robbery and Assault Division later responded to the scene and “we learned that the male suspect had approached the victim and his wife at the bus stop,” police said. “The suspect launched a conflict with the couple, during which he produced sharp weapons and attacked the male victim. After the attack, the suspect left the scene, boarded the public road and left the area.”
Police said investigators gathered evidence, obtained images of the suspect, and ultimately identified him. Michael. Michael was arrested three days later at his East Side home in Tucson.
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Police said a search warrant was executed at home and “investigators found additional evidence.”
