HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) — A man will spend life in prison after he was found guilty of murder in April.
Brady West, 31 was sentenced to life in prison Thursday morning for the murder charge, according to court records. He also was sentenced to 50 to 75 years on another charge. In April, West was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and armed robbery.
Man convicted of murder after 79-year-old beaten, run over
The charges stem from the May 29, 2024, death of Jimmy Sykes, 79, of Battle Creek.
Authorities say West and Brandon Mousseau, now 30, told Sykes there were going to take him out for breakfast that morning. Instead, investigators say, the two beat Sykes with the blunt edge of a hatchet and ran him over with his own pickup truck. Authorities say they took Sykes’ wallet and drove off in his pickup, leaving him in the driveway of a vacant mobile home in rural Baltimore Township, southwest of the village of Nashville.
West and Mousseau had been living with Sykes before the killing — and stealing from him, authorities say. Sykes had told them they needed to move out at the end of the month.
2 charged with murder of 79-year-old man
West and Mousseau were soon arrested and charged the following week…