District Attorney Keith Higgins announced that on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, Michael Purnell, 59, of Brunswick, GA, was found guilty of aggravated battery. The Glynn County jury deliberated and returned their guilty verdict in under 30 minutes.
The evidence presented at trial showed that on June 22, 2023, the victim, William Glass, was at the Citgo Gas Station on Norwich Street Extension getting money out of the ATM inside the gas station. While Glass was withdrawing money from the ATM, Purnell entered the store and punched him in the side of his face/head. This caused Glass to be knocked unconscious and fall to the floor. When he fell, his head struck the gas station floor.
Surveillance video captured Purnell crouching over Glass as if to say something before walking away and then returning to spit on him. The impact of Purnell's punch could be heard on the video shown to jurors. After regaining consciousness without memory of the incident, Glass drove home where his family called 911 due to profuse bleeding from his head.
Law enforcement and EMS personnel arrived to find Glass covered in blood with significant injuries including a broken jaw and large lacerations to his forehead and back of his head. He was transported first to an ER by ambulance and then moved to Jacksonville for further treatment due to injury severity. Medical intervention included a metal implant in his jaw due to a broken piece of jawbone, six metal screws requiring his jaw wired shut for two months, stitches for a laceration over his eye, and staples for a laceration at the back of his head.
Purnell was positively identified at trial as the offender by two witnesses.
Assistant District Attorney Leland McElveen prosecuted the case for the State. "This was a cowardly premeditated attack perpetrated by the defendant who was held accountable by a jury of his peers," McElveen stated. "Upon receipt of his sentence, justice will be served."
Sentencing is scheduled for Friday, June 14, 2024 at 9:30 AM before Chief Judge Stephen G. Scarlett Sr.
Members of the media with further questions may contact the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office at 912-554-7200.