The case of a man who attacked his stepfather because he claimed the older man was involved in “organized crime” was dropped by the state during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court on March 17.
Thirty-five-year-old Randal Lynn Billingsley had been charged with 2nd degree battery.
The dismissal came at the request of the family, according to Prosecutor David Ethredge. He said Billingsley had successfully completed a rehab program and family members had “forgiven him” for the actions he took against his stepfather.
A Baxter County sheriff’s deputy responded to an address on Wild Cat Shoals Road on September 10 last year after a report of a domestic altercation had been received.
When the deputy arrived, he spoke to the victim and a witness who was identified as Billingsley’s mother.
The mother said her son had come into her house and started to damage the interior of the residence. Billingsley then attacked his stepfather who was reported to have been struck several times.
The victim said in addition to being hit by his stepson, he was also thrown to the floor. He said the incident was not the first time he had been injured in an altercation with his stepson recently.
Other deputies were called to the scene when the mother said her son was having “mental issues” and wanted him removed from a camper parked on the property. He had left the mother’s residence when the altercation had ended and gone back to the camper.
The mother tried to get her son to exit the camper but he refused. Deputies were also initially unsuccessful in getting Billingsley to voluntarily come outside but he did invite one of them inside.
After a number of unsuccessful attempts to get Billingsley to come out of the camper on his own, two deputies went in and arrested him.
He was reported to have put up no resistance when he was placed in hand restraints and escorted out of the camper.
Eventually, when deputies spoke with Billingsley on the day of the incident, he said he had an “ongoing issue” with his stepfather due to his “involvement in organized crime and just could not take it anymore.”
The stepfather and Billingsley’s mother took two deputies to their residence to examine the scene of the altercation. They reported a 4×8 foot kitchen island made of wood and tin had been knocked out of place.
Billingsley’s mother said she had tried to separate her 6’2″, 240-pound son and his stepfather, but that Billingsley was “too big for her to be of help.”
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI