Man accused of beating 81-year-old to death gets no bond

Police say Marcus Royal fled to Virginia, turned himself in

Marcus A. Royal is due in court Thursday afternoon after being accused of beating an 81-year-old woman to death and fleeing the state.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A man accused of beating an 81-year-old Cocoa woman to death inside her home and fleeing the state was issued no bond by a Brevard County judge Thursday afternoon.

Marcus A. Royal, 33, turned himself in to Virginia police March 19. Cocoa police brought him back to Brevard on Wednesday, and he was booked into the Sharpes jail.

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Cocoa police said Royal, who as a teen was sent to prison for attacking and raping a woman, fled after fatally beating Faye Jones in her home on Fiske Boulevard on March 17.

Officials said the 81-year-old woman was found face down with her wrists, mouth and hands taped. Her neighbor was found with a gunshot wound to his head.

Royal is facing charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and other charges. A judge issued a warrant for his arrest a day after the killing.

Cocoa police said Royal attacked Jones and then attacked a neighbor who tried to intervene.  Friends said the neighbor was going to take Jones to church.

The neighbor remains hospitalized, said Officer Barbara Matthews, a Cocoa police spokeswoman.

"He's still not able to communicate," she said. "The doctors say it's going to be a very long recovery."


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