N.C. Man Who Beat Sleeping Person With Metal Baseball Bat In Columbia Receives Sentence

COLUMBIA, MD — A North Carolina man has been sentenced after beating a sleeping person with a metal baseball bat in a Columbia home.

The incident happened June 7, 2024, around 9:24 a.m. Thomas Veo Rivers, Jr., 38, was related to some of the people living at a home in the 6500 block of Fruitgift Place. According to Howard County Police, Rivers took a metal baseball bat from an upstairs room, went to the basement, then began beating the sleeping person in the head with the bat. The victim did not know Rivers and had never met Rivers before, the prosecution stated in court.

A jury convicted Rivers on March 5 of first-degree assault and a carrying a deadly weapon openly with intent to injure. On March 15, Rivers was sentenced to 25 years without the possibility of parole.