Del City Police Surprised Man Survived 'Heinous, Brutal' Beating

Adrianna Iwasinski and Jennifer Pierce, News 9

DEL CITY, Oklahoma -- Stetson Johnson was beaten, tortured and left for dead at a lake in Del City. Late last night, police arrested four people for what they're calling one of the worst beatings they've ever seen.

Del City said it was as close to an attempted murder as they've seen in a while. The attack was so brutal, so heinous, that officers are surprised this young man survived.

"I've seen some pretty severe beatings in my years, but this was one of the worst," said Oklahoma City Police Capt. Jody Suit.

Police said 18-year-old Johnson was beaten, tied up, and held down while someone tattooed his head and chest. They even used a stun gun to torture him during the assault.

"I don't know why they did this," Johnson said.

Johnson said it started when he was leaving a female friend's house in southeast Oklahoma City for the weekend. A man confronted him, claiming to be her boyfriend.

"Basically got drugged to the back yard, got stomped, came back in, and that's when they held me down and did the tattoos," Johnson said.

Police said after that, the suspects drove Johnson to Eagle Lake in Del City. They then beat him with a baseball bat, tortured him, and left him for dead.

Johnson lost consciousness during the attack, but when he came to, he was able to stumble down the road about a mile to a nearby mobile home park.

"I woke up two hours later, and I was dizzy and everything, couldn't hardly walk at all, but I tried making it somewhere so I could get help," Johnson said. "They left me out there dying, which wasn't right."

Mobile home park resident Josh Perez said when he opened his door, he found Johnson lying on his front porch. He said he first called for his wife, and then he called 911.

"He was bleeding from the head and bleeding on the arm," Perez said. "He was in pretty bad shape."

Later, police arrested Richard Dellert, Zachary Provence, Amanda Hodges and Kimberly Kirchler. They eventually confessed to the brutal attack. They face charges of kidnapping, maiming and assault with a deadly weapon.

Stetson's family said they don't understand why the attackers aren't charged with attempted murder.

"They stole his wallet, his ID, social security card, his cell phone. So he was left there because I think they were scared he was going to die, and they didn't want to have that on their hands," said Chris Jones, Johnson's brother.

Right now police are not releasing a motive for the beating but said the assault was personal.

Johnson did know his attackers, but not for very long.

Del City police said they are still looking for at least two other people who they believe were involved in the attack.