13 Investigates

Actions

World War II vet recovers from brutal beating, suspect to be released from prison

Posted at 5:23 PM, Dec 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-07 21:34:08-05

He served in the Coast Guard during World War II, but his family is feeling defeated after hearing the man who brutally beat and stole from Robert Hitechew, 92, is about to be released from prison.

"I really treasure him a lot," said Perry Hitechew, Robert's grandson.

According to court records, the trouble began in June 2015, as Robert walked to his home near Rancho and Washington after purchasing bananas at a nearby convenience store.

"As soon as he got out of the prying eyes of the public, he came up from behind him, assaulted him, knocked him to the ground," said Perry.

Robert suffered a broken hip, a fractured leg, and other injuries in the attack, according to his family.

After an intense investigation, the courts convicted Herbert Jackson, Jr., and he was sentenced to serve 2-6 years in prison.

Now present day, Robert lives in an assisted-living home, memories have faded and life has moved on.

"It was Facebook that kind of reminded me about the case," said Perry. "They have these memories of pop up every once in a while, a timeline of what you were doing on that day in history."

With the case fresh on his mind, Perry did some digging and found the family had missed an important parole hearing held back in September. He also found Jackson Jr. is set to be released soon.
"We were not given the chance to testify, and we were not informed about that," said Perry.

As it turns out, Nevada has many resources and websites to help victims keep tabs on offenders and their cases, but as it stands, the victim is responsible to seek out the information.
"Marsy's law really wants to make sure that victims are not just a piece of evidence but to help them through the process and the crime that occurred to them, we want to make sure they have voice," said Will Batista, the state director for Marsy's law Nevada.

Marsy's law, if approved by voters in November 2018, would require agencies to inform victims of resources available to them.

Perry wishes he had not about the resources earlier, but now, it's too late.

Contact 13 has complied some victim resource information here:

13 Investigates - Send us a tip
Do you have a story idea or tip for 13 Investigates? Fill out the form below.
Are you willing to go on camera?

HOW TO WATCH