A Washington County man beat his 77-year-old father to death with a shovel handle in 2018, a jury found Friday.
Shaun Edwin Maki, 59, was found guilty of murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree criminal mistreatment in the death of Melvin Maki, the Washington County District Attorney’s Office said.
Shaun Maki lived with his father at a home on Northwest 185th Avenue in Rock Creek at the time of the attack. His father was in poor health and suffering from dementia, the DA’s office said.
On March 1, 2018, Maki became angry with his father and assaulted him with a wooden shovel handle, breaking multiple bones and causing a brain bleed, the DA’s office said. The next day, Maki cleaned the shovel and went shopping for beer before calling 911 and saying that his father hit himself with a stick.
“First responders were horrified by what they found,” the DA’s office said in a statement.
Melvin Maki was lying in a pool of his own blood when responders arrived. Shaun Maki was arrested and his father was taken to the hospital where he spent two days in a coma and died from his injuries in June of 2018.
Maki told investigators that he waited to call for help because he was concerned about the cost of an ambulance, the DA’s office said.
Maki is scheduled to appear for a sentencing hearing Dec. 19.
