Denise-Marie Balona and Tanya Caldwell | (Orlando) Sentinel Staff Writer
Published March 29, 2007

DAYTONA BEACH – John D'Amico dabbed a tissue to sop up blood seeping from his left eye – the spot where he said a 10-year-old dropped a cinder block on his face.

The 58-year-old homeless man with deep blue eyes and salt-and-pepper hair said he didn't fight back as three boys – two 10-year-olds and a 17-year-old – attacked him near one of Daytona Beach's grittiest streets Tuesday night, not far from where another homeless man was beaten to death by bored teenagers two years ago in Holly Hill.

They wanted to kill him, the day laborer said of his attackers Wednesday from his hospital bed.

"I'm not going to start fighting a 10-year-old," he said. "Then I'd be in jail."

While violence against the homeless is on the rise, national advocates said they've never heard of children as young as 10 taking part in an attack.

All three boys are charged with felony aggravated battery. They're being held at a juvenile detention center for the next three weeks while prosecutors decide how to handle their cases.

The State Attorney's Office would not comment on whether the boys will be charged as adults.

They made their first court appearance Wednesday, handcuffed, shackled and, in the case of the 10-year-olds, wearing white jail jumpsuits that were too long and too loose for their young frames.

The younger boys were fidgety, whispering to each other as they waited their turn before County Judge Peter Marshall at the Volusia County Branch Jail.

When Marshall asked the boys whether their parents were present, they looked at each other and shook their heads.

The 17-year-old, Jeremy Woods, of Daytona Beach, asked for a public defender, and the two younger boys nodded in agreement.

Police reports suggested two of the boys may have been brothers, but officials said they could not confirm that.

The Orlando Sentinel is not identifying the younger boys, who also live in Daytona Beach, because of their age.

'Youngest perpetrators'

Michael Stoops, acting executive director for the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C., said his group has been tracking violence against the homeless for years, but none of those cases has ever involved someone so young.

"These are the youngest perpetrators ever, which is disturbing," Stoops said.

His group released a study last month that found Florida had more reported attacks on the homeless in 2006 than any other state.

Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, called Florida "ground zero for attacks on the homeless."

He said the violence is similar to hate crimes against minorities and gay people years ago.

"It's becoming less socially acceptable to attack other groups, so the homeless now are taking the mantle of [becoming] the universally acceptable target for aggression."Daytona Beach police Chief Mike Chitwood said the boys' actions may have been the result of bad parenting and a violent society influenced by video games.

'Disposable kids'

Their parents could not be reached for comment. All three of the boys -- even the supposed brothers -- each reported different addresses and last names.

"Just goes to show you they're disposable kids," Chitwood said.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 225-pound D'Amico, known on the streets as "Big John," worked day labor and as a security guard during race events.

But on Wednesday, he said doctors at Halifax Medical Center said he will need an operation to repair the broken bone surrounding his eye, which was purple and swollen shut.

The attack happened as D'Amico and a friend, 46-year-old Mike Wantland, were walking down the sidewalk, debating where to go get a beer after work.

He said three boys started following them down Mulberry Street, not far from the notorious Ridgewood Avenue area that one resident on Wednesday called "prostitute and crack heaven."

D'Amico said the kids showed up on bikes and started throwing pebbles, then rocks.

The two men walked faster, he said, trying to lose them instead of fighting three children.

He called out to the older boy, "Hey, man, let's keep this good.

"I was like, 'Come on, man, just let us go,' " he said. "But he wasn't having it."

After two to three blocks, the boys got off their bikes and D'Amico said the oldest boy slugged him.

D'Amico slammed into a low block wall, which broke apart.

Then, he said, one of the two younger boys picked up a piece of the concrete and dropped it on his face.

Police arrived to find D'Amico's face covered with blood. Wantland had minor injuries and was not hospitalized.

D'Amico said he is as surprised as anyone that children so young would attack him so violently.

"Hadn't the cops showed up, I think they would have done it again and again," he said. "I can't believe people treat each other like this."

"I'm sure in a 10-year-old's mind, somehow it's my fault," he said.

D'Amico moved to Daytona Beach from New York in 1983, but said he lost his job as a janitor and has been homeless about a year and a half.

He has no family in the area but says he finds safety by sticking with other homeless people. He and Wantland have moved about the city, camping together in a variety of places.

Homeless on guard

News of the attack spread quickly through the homeless community, some of whom blamed the city's new police chief Wednesday for trying to get rid of the homeless.

The men and women who gathered for lunch at a local soup kitchen were abuzz about the attack, but say they are constantly on guard, especially when groups of children pass by.

"I think the kids don't have anything to do," said one homeless man who would only identify himself as Skybird. "The parents do not care."

Keith Johnson, who said he saw the attack, pointed out the bloodstains on the sidewalk and a bloody napkin that D'Amico used to staunch the wound.

Johnson said one of the young boys began to weep when the police arrived.

"He broke down and started crying and said, 'We didn't mean to hurt him.' "

Denise-Marie Balona can be reached at dbalona@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7916. Tanya Caldwell can be reached at 386-851-7910 or tcaldwell@orlandosentinel.com.