A reputed Michigan animal lover was beaten to death when he tried to stop his neighbor from hitting a dog on Christmas Eve, according to authorities and people who knew the victim.
Robert “Bobby” Cavanaugh, 60, was bicycling through his mobile home community in the Detroit suburb of Madison Heights when he saw a fellow resident physically abusing a dog, neighbors of the men told the local Fox affiliate.
Cavanaugh apparently stopped, got off his bike and got in to try to defend the animal. But the other man eventually hit Cavanaugh with a pipe and killed him, the victim’s sister — Jane Thompson — and his neighbors told several media outlets.
“Without hesitation, Bobby tried to stop that man,” Thompson also wrote on a GoFundMe campaign page intended to raise money for Cavanaugh’s funeral expenses. “But instead Bobby was beaten to death with a pipe.”
Police confirmed to Fox 2 Detroit that emergency responders found Cavanaugh unconscious and bleeding after apparently being struck with an object on December 24 around 7:40 p.m., and that he was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. But police insisted they were still investigating reports that Cavanaugh may have died while trying to save a dog.
Cavanaugh’s particularly brutal death led to the arrest of Rodney Beasley, 68, on charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, the local prosecutor’s office told Detroit’s WWJ news radio station. His bail was set at $100,000, although his charges could be increased once medical examiners complete their investigation into Cavanaugh’s cause and manner of death, the prosecutor’s office told WWJ.
The news website ClickOnDetroit.com quoted members of Cavanaugh’s family as claiming to have learned that Beasley had a well-documented history of violence that previously sent him to prison for a total of about 30 years. They wondered why Beasley was out of custody at the time of Cavanaugh’s fatal attack.
Police have largely not discussed these comments publicly, only telling Fox 2 Detroit that the suspect in Cavanaugh’s death was known to police before his arrest.
Those who knew Cavanaugh told a number of media platforms that he deserved justice.
Rebecca Spencer told Detroit’s ABC affiliate that it was particularly cruel for Cavanaugh to die at the hands of someone who essentially signaled to him, “You’re not going to tell me how to raise my dog.”
“He was an animal lover,” Spencer said of Cavanaugh in a separate interview with Fox 2 Detroit. “He would not allow anyone to kill or hurt an animal.”
Citing Thompson himself, the New York Post reported that Cavanaugh was a longtime pet owner — and he confronted Beasley despite living with a disability for which he received government assistance.
‘He did everything from his heart… and above all always gave back whenever he could [to] all animals,” Thompson wrote on the GoFundMe page in honor of her brother, which had raised more than $19,000 as of Sunday.
Thompson added on the fundraising platform that her family wanted to honor her brother “and give him a proper burial like the hero he was.” She also asked visitors to the page to “continue to pray for peace [and] humanity for all our world.”
