This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Iron County prosecutors have charged a man in connection with the Cedar City beating death of a 59-year-old man.
Brandon Thomas Sappington, 30, a transient, was charged with one count of attempted murder, a second-degree felony, two counts of assault by prisoner, both third-degree felonies, and interfering with arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor, according to charging documents made public Tuesday in 5th District Court.
The attempted murder count was filed with the court on Friday, a day before Bryan Mahue Mellor, 59, of Cedar City, died from his injuries.
Police found Mellor — an acquaintance of Sappington's — bloodied and unconscious on a sidewalk outside an apartment complex at 468 S. 75 West about 8:10 a.m. on Oct. 9.
Mellor had been on life support at University Medical Center in Las Vegas before dying Saturday.
Medical personnel reported that Mellor had suffered multiple skull fractures and bleeding in the brain as a result of Sappington's assault, according to a probable cause statement released Tuesday.
Police said Sappington was living "clandestinely" with Mellor, and the Cedar City Housing Authority did not approve the pair residing together.
It wasn't clear what precipitated the assault, but witnesses told police they saw Sappington kicking Mellor in the head into a tubular steel railing, and also "stomping" and "jumping" on the victim's head and torso, the probable cause statement says.
Police said they saw "footwear impressions" visible on Mellor's chest and stomach when medical personnel was attempting to save his life.
Sappington was scheduled to make his initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon.
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