TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) He’s charged with using a hatchet to kill a man. It will be at least December before we learn if 25 year old Daniel Michael Junior will accept a plea deal in the case.
Tucson Police say Daniel Michael hit Jacob Couch in the neck with a hatchet as the man and his wife waited at a transit stop.
Jacob Couch and his wife were pausing in Tucson on a cross country trip when Police say Michael attacked Couch.
Couch died after several days in the hospital.
Police found Michael at his home three days after the attack. Charging documents said he told police he’d been drinking heavily and didn’t remember anything. Then he said he did attack Couch because he thought the victim was using drugs and the victim kept one of his hands in his pocket.
Nothing has been presented to suggest the victim was using drugs.
A hearing to consider a plea deal will be delayed because prosecutors have not taken the case before their own internal panel that considers what to offer as a plea deal.
Defense attorneys want time to get Michael’s record from the Arizona Department of Children’s services. Court records show from the age of eleven Michael had a history of thefts and assaults that put him in probation in the juvenile justice system.
