In Racist Attack, Kent Man Battered With Baseball Bat

AUBURN, WA - A black man from Kent was nearly beaten to death recently after spending the night at a woman's home in Auburn, according to court documents. Prosecutors are pressing charges against the attacker under Washington's hate crime law, and Gov. Jay Inslee addressed the crime Wednesday, calling it a reminder of the ongoing fight against hate.

DaShawn Horne, 26, a postal worker, is being treated at Harborview for a traumatic brain injury. He has been unconscious since Julian Tuimauga, 18, allegedly beat him with an aluminum baseball bat outside an Auburn home on Jan. 20. Tuimauga is being held in jail on charges of first-degree assault and malicious harassment.

The incident was first reported Wednesday by the Seattle Times.

According to court records, Horne went to a home in Auburn on Jan. 19 with a woman he met at a Seattle nightclub. The next morning around 10 a.m., the woman called a Lyft for Horne. As he left her house, Tuimauga, the woman's brother, allegedly confronted Horne. The Lyft driver, who was parked in front of the home, told police he saw Tuimauga confront Horne and then hit him with an aluminum bat.

"This is what happens when you bring black people around here," Tuimauga allegedly said during the beating, the Lyft driver told police.

According to court documents, Horne and his date, a woman named "Ray", had spent the night at Tuimauga's home.

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