Columbus Dispatch: Mom seeks answers in son’s death

Saturday, September 06, 2003

Police investigating savage thrashing of 36-year-old man in Northland area

As her only son lay in a hospital bed, Pamela A. Smith shuddered as she thought of the brutality he had faced.

"The blows to the head. The irreversible brain damage. It’s beyond me how they could do that.

"Someone, somewhere saw something," she said. "They had to. I just pray that God touches their heart."

Derrick Floyd, 36, died late Thursday night at Riverside Methodist Hospital after being beaten a week ago.

Floyd was discovered about 11:30 p.m. Aug. 29, when someone called police to say there was a body lying outside an apartment complex at 1980 Belcher Dr., near the former Northland Mall.

He was bleeding from the head and not breathing. Medics revived him.

The blows to his head were so severe that Smith said she thinks the attack had to be the work of more than one person.

But why someone would want to kill him has been a question the family has been unable to answer.

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Floyd wasn’t a fighter — if his attackers were looking for a fight. And at 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 150 pounds, Floyd wasn’t threatening.

Moreover, he still had problems with his legs because they had been broken two years ago in an auto accident.

He was "defenseless before the first blow," his mother said.

Floyd also is survived by a 14-year-old son, Marquise Deal-Floyd, and four sisters.

The funeral services were held at the J. Martin Smith Mortuary, 1173 E. Hudson St.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 614-645-4730 or Crime Stoppers at 614-645-TIPS.

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