Man pleads to beating parents with metal bat

A Jacksonville man has pleaded guilty to attempting to kill his mother and stepfather.

The State Attorney’s Office says in February last year, 40-year-old Jemiry Smith went in to his parent’s bedroom while they were sleeping and began beating them repeatedly with a metal baseball bat.  He had moved in to the home just four days earlier when he was released from prison.

Smith then took his mother’s car and crashed a few miles from the home.  He was initially treated on the scene by Jacksonville Fire and Rescue but fled before police arrived.  He turned himself in the next day.

He pled to two counts of Attempted Murder in the First Degree, Grand Theft Auto and Petit Theft.  He was scheduled to go on trial this week.  He will be sentenced in late February to mandatory life in prison.