Jimmy Lee Dean faces long road to recovery after attack that left him with a fractured jaw, other injuries

It wasn’t the first time Jimmy Lee Dean had seen the two men near the corner of Throckmorton Street and Dickason Avenue.

Dean said he remembers them being there the night before, and perhaps the night before that, too. They appeared to have a vehicle with them, Dean said, and he figured they might be stranded. But he didn’t think much of it.

 

Jimmy Lee Dean plays his guitar for the first time since being assaulted while walking near Cedar Springs Road on July 17. He said that even with reconstructive surgery, he doubts he will ever look the same again. - JOHN WRIGHT/Dallas Voice

It was shortly after midnight on July 17, and Dean said he was returning home from Alexandre’s, one of two gay bars he’d been to on the Cedar Springs strip. As he walked toward the entrance to his apartment complex about 50 yards away on Throckmorton Street, Dean said he gave the two men a friendly nod.

“The next thing I know, they were jumping me,” he said.
 
Deans vaguely recalled somebody saying something about money. He said he also remembers thinking that since he was facing two attackers, it wouldn’t be wise to draw the knife he carries in his pocket. Instead, he tried pushed the knife down further so it wouldn’t fall out and be used against him.

“At about the second hit, I thought I was dead,” Dean said. “I barely remember waking up in the hospital. What I remember is waking up and thinking I shouldn’t be awake. My entire face was crushed.”

Dean, 42, was recovering at home this week after being released from Parkland Memorial Hospital on Friday, July 25. His jaw, fractured in several places, remains wired shut, and he complained about medical tape on the roof of his mouth that makes it difficult to eat or swallow medication.

With the right side of his face still discolored and visibly collapsed, Dean said he’ll have reconstructive surgery. But he doubts he’ll ever look the same.

The two suspects charged in Dean’s attack — 26-year-old Bobby Jack Singleton and 31-year-old Jonathan Russell Gunter, both of Garland — remain in jail on $300,000 bond each, according to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department.

Singleton and Gunter are accused of aggravated robbery, and Dallas police have classified the incident as an anti-gay hate crime.

According to police reports, Singleton and Gunter pistol-whipped Dean with a 9mm Glock handgun, in addition to kicking and stomping his head, face and body. Witnesses reported that the suspects used anti-gay epithets before, during and after the attack, and police said Singleton and Gunter admitted they felt it would be easier to rob a gay man.

Dean, who identifies as bisexual, said he doesn’t doubt that the suspects targeted him because of his perceived sexual orientation. But he said he doesn’t recall the anti-gay epithets.

“I didn’t even know there was a gun involved until somebody said something,” he said.

Dean said he also doesn’t remember meeting the lone eyewitness, 48-year-old Michael Robinson, just moments before the attack.

Dean said he’d had a few drinks that night but denied reports he was intoxicated.
 “I didn’t go out to get drunk, but I went out and had a drink,” he said. “Believe me, I’ve staggered home on these streets a whole lot drunker than that.”

A native of Cincinnati, Dean said he’s lived in Dallas for about 20 years. He said he’s lost contact with his family, which doesn’t know about the incident.

Dean’s longtime roommate, who asked to be identified only as Tom, said he’s been by his side for the last two weeks. 

“He’s a great roommate,” Tom said. “He’s more like my son than a roommate.”

Tom’s voice trembled as he recalled being summoned to the emergency room a few hours after the attack.

“I’ve never seen any human being look like that,” Tom said. “It looked like he got hit by a Mack truck.”

Tom is working to set up a bank account where people can deposit money to help defray medical expenses for Dean, who doesn’t have health insurance.

Dean said he dabbles in freelance Web design, but his true love is guitar and music. For the last few years, he’s been working toward opening a home recording studio where he can help other artists cut demos.

“It seems like every time I almost get close, something else goes wrong,” he said.
Dallas Voice has received several e-mails and phone calls from people interested in helping Dean. He said it’s nice to know that people care and added that he hopes his ordeal will help make the area safer.

Dean said people need to be more aware and report things like the two suspects who attacked him.

“Something could have been said earlier,” he said. “If I had said something earlier, that might have prevented it.”

Dean said he’s never before had a problem walking in the area, and one of the reasons he moved there was he felt it was in safe walking distance to the strip.

“We’ve got all kinds of people in this neighborhood — black, white, gay, straight, Hispanic — and usually no one bothers anyone,” he said. “I never thought anything like that would have happened right here.”


This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 1, 2008.