Man Beaten to Death With Walking Stick

A 26-year-old Land O’ Lakes man faces second-degree murder charges in connection with his roommate’s October death.

According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Jon Erik Hefner was charged in the death of Charles Byrd, 62, on Tuesday. Hefner and Byrd shared a home on Wilsky Road. Sometime between Oct. 29-30, Hefner is accused of beating Byrd in the head and neck area with a folded walking stick, an arrest report stated.

Byrd and Hefner, the report noted, shared a bedroom and argued over the television from time to time. The attack that led to Byrd’s death, however, was carried out “without provocation,” the report said.

Following arrest, deputies say Hefner admitted to the act and said he knew Byrd died after the beating. He tried to pull the body into a closet and then posed Byrd “to cover up the true crime scene and make it appear that the victim died of natural causes,” the arrest report states.

Dr. Wayne Kurz of the Pasco County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy that concluded the victim died as a result of a homicide and not natural causes. That determination kicked off the investigation, the report noted.

Hefner was originally charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon on Oct. 30. The charge upgrade occurred on Dec. 8. He remained in the Land O’ Lakes Jail Wednesday without bond.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office