Reports detail injuries suffered by Tehachapi assault victim

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A man was assaulted twice within 24 hours — the first time in Bakersfield, the second in Tehachapi, reports say.

The first assault left him with a broken nose and jaw.

The second was much worse.

According to sheriff's reports, the second pummeling resulted in broken facial bones, a punctured left lung, a brain bleed and "extreme" swelling to his face.

The accused assailant in that beating, Lavail Johnson Jr., Facetimed his ex — with whom the victim had been hanging out earlier — and sent her a video of the victim unconscious, according to the reports.

Johnson also sent text messages blaming her, apparently believing she'd been intimate with the victim, the reports say.

Arrested Oct. 31, Johnson, 33, faces felony assault and battery charges and is being held on $500,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled later this month.

Two assaults

On Oct. 26, the victim and some friends — including Johnson's ex — went from Tehachapi to a party in Bakersfield. The victim, who'd been drinking, grabbed the buttocks of a female at the party, witnesses told investigators.

Two people then assaulted the victim, punching and kicking him, witnesses said.

He was taken to Mercy Hospital Southwest and examined, and left early on Oct. 27, witnesses said. The group returned to Tehachapi.

One witness described the victim as "a little beat up but not enough to prevent him from functioning normally," according to the reports.

Hours later, family of the victim, unable to locate him and getting no response from his phone, started knocking on doors in an apartment complex. They got to Johnson's apartment — where the victim was found unconscious with injuries far worse than what he'd originally suffered, the reports say.

He was rushed to a hospital in Tehachapi, where his injuries were determined to be life-threatening. Then he was airlifted to Kern Medical.

Investigators confirmed the injuries couldn't have occurred during the first beating. Nursing staff at Mercy said the victim only had a broken nose and jaw when they examined him earlier, and an MRI showed no brain bleeds.

Johnson — who knows the victim — apparently gave different explanations as to how he became injured.

He told one person the victim was drunk and fell face first on the concrete back patio, according to the reports. Another person said Johnson told them he only slapped the victim a few times.

Then there are the messages Johnson allegedly sent his ex — including a three-second video showing the victim unconscious with blood on his face.

In text messages, Johnson asked if she slept with the victim, the ex told police. She denied it, and he responded by calling her vulgar names and blaming her for the victim's condition, according to the reports.

The ex told investigators she dated Johnson on and off for 18 months, but they broke up in July. She said he uses and sells cocaine, and "was not always the best person," the reports say.