Elon Musk has drawn national attention to the fatal beating of 64-year-old Roger Borkum in downtown Jacksonville after retweeting a post suggesting the case had not received sufficient media coverage.
The Syosset, New York, native and former technology consultant who once worked at the World Trade Center was found “severely beaten” shortly before midnight on Oct. 19.
Police say three teenagers — Justin Curry, 13; Robert Pope, 16; and Marcavion Lacey, 19 — were seen kicking and stomping the victim, leaving a trail of blood extending down a sidewalk.
The suspects allegedly rifled through Borkum’s backpack and returned about 20 minutes later to assault him again, according to police.
Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office documents indicate the teens battered Borkum three separate times. He was hospitalized but died four days later from his injuries.
Authorities say one of the suspects told investigators that the attack stemmed from Borkum having “dissed” their “dead homies,” though police did not elaborate.
The three teens were arrested within hours of the attack.
On Nov. 20, a Duval County grand jury indicted all three for murder.
Curry, the youngest, was just 12 at the time of the assault, police said.
“He was, throughout his life, compassionate, ethical, and intellectual,” Borkum’s obituary reads. “He loved reading philosophical works from the Enlightenment and thinking about their implications for the proper manner of living.”
Borkum was a widower and homeless at the time of his death.
He lost his wife, Celeste, in 2009 and narrowly escaped the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, having been let go from his role on the 77th floor of Tower 1 months before the tragedy.
Musk’s amplification of the case — viewed 33 million times — has sparked discussion about what he suggested was muted media coverage of the slaying.
