DeKalb County

Police: Neighborhood yard man brutally assaults 94-year-old woman he worked for

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A 94-year-old woman is recovering after a man police say did yard work for over 20 years in her neighborhood broke into her home and brutally attacked her.

Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes was in DeKalb County, where police say Reginald Pass walked up to the woman's door on Daniel Ave in the middle of the day on Sept. 30 ad forced his way inside.

Inside the home, police said he beat the woman and threatened to kill her. In a police report, investigators said when they got to the scene, there was blood spatter on the kitchen and bedroom floors and the victim had a black eye, cuts and swelling to her face.

Pass has since been arrested and is in jail without bond.

Neighbors who knew the seemingly-friendly handyman for decades said they were stunned.

Mardee Rightmyer has lived in the neighborhood on the edge of northeast Atlanta for decades and said she thinks Pass grew up there. She said residents used to love to see "Reggie" ride through the neighborhood on his bike.

Rightmyer is stunned someone she used to hire for odd jobs and yard work could do something so violent.

"I did trust him, yes," Rightmyer said. "He was really nice and he spoke every time he rode his bike by."

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Fernandes talked to other neighbors who also said they had hired Pass and said he was always friendly.

Rightmyer did say she stopped hiring Pass a few years ago because he had a tendency to not show up when he said he would or leave halfway through a job and not return for a few days.

She said in recent years he'd struggled with a drug problem and started knocking on her door at 2 a.m.

"We just say, 'Reginald, we're not opening the door. You need to go home,' and he does," Rightmyer said. "He never tried to force himself in."

Fernandes spoke to the victim's son off-camera, who said his mother is traumatized by the attack. He said she won't stay at the home by herself anymore.

Neighbors said they hope Pass gets the help he needs.