Fundraiser For Man Beaten In Racist Attack In Auburn

AUBURN, WA - Family and friends of DaShawn Horne have set up a fundraiser to help pay for medical bills. Horne was beaten with a baseball bat on Jan. 20 outside a home in Auburn. The brother of a woman Horne had spent a night with has been arrested for the attack, and is facing charges under the state hate crime statute.

Horne, 26, suffered a traumatic brain injury in the attack, and is being treated at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Horne has been unconscious since the attack and faces a long recovery, his friends have said.

"The doctors say that he has a long road ahead towards recovery, he will be in intensive care for at least a month before transferring to a neurology unit for another month with the expectation of eventually being transferred to a rehabilitation center for up to six months. Dashawn is an amazing father brother, son and friend to many of you," friend Ob-ira Ben Israel wrote on the GoFundMe page.

Family and friends have set a goal of raising $300,000 for Horne. As of Thursday afternoon, the fundraiser was nearly one-third of the way to its goal.

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, Julian Tuimauga, 18, the woman's brother, allegedly confronted Horne. The Lyft driver, who was parked in front of the home, told police he saw Tuimauga yell at Horne and then hit him with an aluminum bat. Tuimauga allegedly made a remark about Horne's race during the attack.

Image via GoFundMe