The victim, Timothy L. Jackson, said he went down to the boat ramp to hang out with friends and drink beer. He said he remembers little else about what occurred because of his injuries.
The blow to the left side of his head ripped off his left ear, damaged his eardrums, and caused swelling to his face, Jackson said. His ear was sewn back on, but he has hearing loss.
Witnesses said a fight broke out between three or four women when one broke a beer bottle and started waving it around. Hearn went back to his car and pulled out a baseball bat, witnesses testified.
Jackson walked up to Hearn with his arms spread wide, said witness Roland Lajoie.
"Tim asked him to put the bat down. I seen him cock back with the bat and swing it like he was trying to hit a home run with Tim's head," Lajoie said.
Before Hearn hit Jackson, he threatened him, Lajoie said.
"He said he had been in prison before for murder and he wasn't afraid to go back again," Lajoie said.
Hearn pleaded guilty on Sept. 23, 1988, to voluntary manslaughter and unlawful wounding for the March 21, 1987, shooting that killed Herbert Woodward and wounded Danny R. Bowles.
Woodward was the driver of a pickup truck and Bowles a passenger, according to court records. Hearn was sentenced to a year in prison, according to court records.
After Jackson was hit, he fell to the ground, said Donna Ann Moore, 27.
Lajoie said he rushed to Jackson's aid and another man armed with a pool cue fought with Jackson's attacker, still wielding the ball bat "like they were sword-fighting or something," Lajoie said.
On Feb. 9, Hearn was charged with malicious wounding after a Charles Town man was struck in the head with an ax, according to charging documents.
The victim, Thomas Rickard, asked for the charge to be dropped on March 26 and the case was dismissed, according to court records.
