A reputed animal lover from Michigan was reportedly beaten to death while trying to stop his neighbor from beating a dog on Christmas Eve, according to authorities and people who knew the victim.
Robert “Bobby” Cavanaugh, 60, was riding his bicycle through his mobile home community in the Detroit suburb of Madison Heights when he noticed a fellow resident physically abusing a dog, neighbors of the men told the local Fox affiliate.
Cavanaugh purportedly stopped, got off his bicycle and stepped in to try to defend the animal. But the other man ended up striking Cavanaugh with a pipe and killing him, the victim’s sister – Jane Thompson – and his neighbors recounted to various media outlets.
“With no hesitation, Bobby tried to stop that man,” Thompson also wrote on a GoFundMe campaign page meant to raise money for Cavanaugh’s funeral expenses. “But instead, Bobby was beaten to death with a pipe.”
Police confirmed to Fox 2 Detroit that first responders found Cavanaugh unconscious and bleeding at about 7.40pm on 24 December after he was apparently beaten with an object, and he was pronounced dead after being brought to a hospital. But police maintained they were still investigating reports that Cavanaugh may have been killed trying to save a dog.
Cavanaugh’s particularly brutal death led to the arrest of Rodney Beasley, 68, on a count of assault with a dangerous weapon, according to what the local prosecutor’s office said to Detroit’s WWJ news radio station. His bail was set at $100,000, though his charges could be upgraded once medical examiners finish their investigation into Cavanaugh’s cause and manner of death, the prosecutor’s office told WWJ.
The news website ClickOnDetroit.com cited members of Cavanaugh’s family who claimed to have learned Beasley had a well-documented history of violence that previously sent him to prison for a total of about 30 years. They questioned why Beasley was out of custody at the time of Cavanaugh’s fatal attack.
Police have largely not addressed those comments in public, only telling Fox 2 Detroit that the suspect in Cavanaugh’s death had been known to law enforcement before his arrest.
Those who knew Cavanaugh told a number of media platforms that he deserved justice.
Rebecca Spencer said to Detroit’s ABC affiliate that it was particularly cruel for Cavanaugh to die at the hands of someone who essentially was signaling to him “you’re not going to tell me how to raise my dog”.
“He was an animal lover,” Spencer said of Cavanaugh in a separate interview with Fox 2 Detroit. “He would not let anybody kill an animal or hurt one.”
Citing Thompson herself, the New York Post reported that Cavanaugh had long been a pet owner – and he confronted Beasley despite living with disabilities for which he received government assistance.
“He did everything from his heart … and always gave back whenever he could, especially [to] all animals,” Thompson wrote on the GoFundMe page honoring her brother, which had raised more than $19,000 as of Sunday.
Thompson added on the fundraising platform that her family wanted to honor her brother “and give him a proper burial as the hero he was”. She also asked the page’s visitors to “continue to pray for peace [and] humanity for all of our world”.
