Macon man charged with murder in deadly Father’s Day beating

A Macon man has been charged with murder in connection to a beating at a Father’s Day cookout this year.

James Christopher Patterson, 31, of Macon, was jailed Tuesday on the murder charge in the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center.

He was previously charged with aggravated battery and aggravated assault and had been free on a $20,550 bond.

Jeffery Burke, 55, of Macon, was hospitalized for two months after the beating at The Medical Center, Navicent Health.

He had lost consciousness for at least two days and suffered a broken neck and paralysis.

Burke was released Aug. 20, but found dead on his couch Sunday, Sept. 9, by his wife.

An autopsy determined Burke died as a result of injuries sustained in the beating 84 days earlier, said Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones. The autopsy was done by the GBI.

The cookout was at 330 Astor Street, the same address listed for Patterson on jail records. Patterson was arrested without incident at an apartment in Gordon by the U. S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

A witness told deputies that Burke and Patterson had argued at the cookout, according to the incident report. When that person came back from the bathroom, he saw Burke lying on the ground and Patterson and an unidentified individual kicking and punching Burke, the report said.

Both were armed with handguns and Patterson pointed the weapon at Burke and threatened to kill him, the witness told deputies, according to the report.

However, investigators do not believe that there was a second person, but the incident remains under investigation, said Bibb County sheriff’s Lt. Sean DeFoe.

According to a Bibb County sheriff’s news release, deputies initially responded to the hospital of a reported hit-and-run. Burke’s family told deputies that Burke’s friends drove him home and had told them that Burke fell and hit his head on a truck.

When Burke regained consciousness, he told deputies that he had been struck from behind, knocked unconscious and beaten, the release said.

Burke and Patterson did not know each other, DeFoe said.

The incident remains under investigation.

The autopsy results made Burke the 38th homicide victim in Bibb County this year.

Autopsy results are still pending for 62-year-old Mary Robinson, who could be the county’s 39th homicide. Robinson was found dead inside an apartment in east Macon. A man who was living in the apartment, a military veteran released from jail, could not be found. Robinson’s death is being investigated as a homicide because investigators have said it is suspicious.

This story was originally published December 18, 2018 at 2:14 PM.