BALTIMORE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Jimmy Sykes should be witnessing his great-granddaughter’s first steps.
Instead, the 79-year-old veteran from Battle Creek is dead, beaten and run over by two young men on the lam, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Sykes’ body was discovered on a driveway Wednesday, May 29, off East Cloverdale Road, 10 miles southeast of Hastings.
But it’s only now that Target 8 is learning new details about Sykes’ alleged murder, based in part on the affidavit that supported the suspects’ arrests.
Brandon Mousseau, 28, and Brady West, 29, are charged with murder as fourth-time habitual offenders in Sykes’ killing.
Both remain in the Barry County jail on $1 million bonds.
Investigators say the two men beat Sykes with the blunt edge of a hatchet and ran him over before leaving him in the driveway of a vacant mobile home in Baltimore Township, 20 miles from Sykes’ home in Battle Creek.
“Deputies arrived and located an unidentified white, elderly male, and he was pronounced dead at 1228 Hrs,” wrote a Barry County detective sergeant in the affidavit. “Deputies observed injuries on the decedent, vehicle tracks, and debris at the scene consistent with the subject being struck by a vehicle.”
A 'PILE OF CLOTHES' ON A DRIVEWAY
Wayne Morgan lives across the road from the crime scene and said he was heading out to run errands the morning of May 29.
“Drove by, thought I seen a pile of clothes,” Morgan told Target 8, referring to an object on the long dirt driveway leading to the empty mobile home.
When he returned from his errands, Morgan said he noticed tire tracks in the grass of the same property.
“I drove up there to see what it was, and there was a body laying there,” recalled Morgan. “It stunned me as I got up here. Coming up the hill, I seen tennis shoes, legs … it’s just one of those things you don’t expect. I was shocked to see a body. It’s like something you can’t unsee.”
Morgan said it was clear the man was dead, so he backed his vehicle away from the scene and called 911.
“What I could see, there wasn’t nothing I could do for him,” Morgan said. “I hope he wasn’t there very long. It bothered me.”
Morgan said he couldn’t imagine what would have prompted such violence.
“It didn’t really look like he could hurt anybody,” Morgan said of the elderly man in the driveway.
On the same day, according to the affidavit, a unit with the Michigan Department of Corrections was searching for a man who had absconded parole in April.
Mousseau, of Battle Creek, has a criminal record that includes convictions for receiving and concealing firearms and assaulting/resisting/obstructing police.
AFFIDAVIT: SUSPECTS FOUND WITH VICTIM’S TRUCK
According to the probable cause affidavit, when the MDOC Asset Recovery Unit located Mousseau on May 29, he was in Sykes’ truck.
Also in the vehicle was another man wanted on an outstanding warrant: West, who has convictions for felony possession of methamphetamine/ecstasy, tampering with an electronic monitoring device and criminal sexual conduct third degree.
“Brady West was the operator (of Sykes’ truck) at the time of the traffic stop,” wrote a detective sergeant with the Barry County Sheriff’s Department. “During the course of the traffic stop, multiple weapons, including a hatchet, were seized from the vehicle. … On May 30, 2024, (a Battle Creek police officer) became aware that the owner of that pickup truck, Jimmy L. Sykes … had not been seen since 5/28/2024.”
The motive behind Sykes’ alleged murder has not been revealed, though Barry County Prosecutor Julie Nakfoor Pratt said in court that Mousseau and West had been taking advantage of Sykes, a veteran whose wife died three years ago.
On the day in question, Nakfoor Pratt said the pair convinced Sykes to go out to breakfast with them.
'SO EXCITED' TO MEET HIS GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER
Sykes’ family shared pictures with Target 8 and said Sykes was “so excited” about meeting his new great-granddaughter in March.
They said Sykes was healthy and should have lived to see her crawl and walk.
The family also shared a picture of Sykes and his wife on a trip to California 11 years ago.
They’d ridden their motorcycle from Michigan, one of many trips over the years.
Morgan said he often thinks about the elderly man he discovered on May 29.
“When everything slows down during the day,” Morgan said. “When you’re getting ready to go to bed. It pops back in and out.…I wish it never happened. Wish it would have been a pile of clothes….I hope the people involved get punished.”
Mousseau’s next court hearing is scheduled for June 19, while West’s has been pushed to July 10.