A juvenile was arrested by Spoke Washington police in connection with the beating of Delbert Belton, an 88-year-old World War II veteran, CNN reported. The suspect was charged with first-degree robbery and first-degree murder.
Belton was beaten and left for dead outside the Eagles Lounge in Spokane, a place Belton frequented often. A police do not have a motive, as the teens appeared to pick out Belton at random, authorities said.
"It does appear random," Spokane police Lt. Mark Griffiths said "It appears he was assaulted in the parking lot and there was no indication that he would have known these people prior to the assault."
The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office listed the cause of death as blunt facial and head injuries. The death is considered homicide.
Officers have been using dogs to search for suspects, sweeping for fingerprints on the chain link fence in the area where they had been seen.
"We were mechanic buddies," the 42-year-old Ted Denison told CNN, remembering his friend Belton. "We just kind of kicked right along."
Denison also descibed Belton frequent visits to the Eagles Lodge. "He went up there and played pool, met with some of the guys he used to work with at Kaiser Aluminum," where he was employed more than 30 years, Denison said.
Delbert Belton's daughter-in-law Barbara also told CNN' in a phone interview that the 88-year-old's friends first called her about the attack.
"It's almost like you're not really focusing in on what they're saying.'It didn't seem real."
An intensive care unit doctor ultimately told her that he had been beaten up badly, doctors "couldn't stop the bleeding."
A Facebook page made in honor of Belton has been set up since his death.
