Ruben Dwayne Haywood, 52, committed the second-degree felony when he attacked George Cameron, another Smithville resident, on Mar. 5 of this year.
Haywood, in the course of committing theft of property, hit Cameron with a wooden rod and a shovel in the 300 block of Taylor Street in Smithville shortly after midnight.
Both of Cameron’s hands were broken as he tried to ward off the blows to his head. He also suffered a large gash in his head.
“It’s the worst attack I have ever seen,” said Lonny Richardson, Smithville police detective.
According to Richardson, Haywood and Cameron knew each other through mutual acquaintances prior to the attack.
Cameron said that in the eight months since the assault he has almost fully healed.
“I don’t have 100 percent use of my hands yet, but the doctors said I would have a full recovery,” he said. “I only had to go through one surgery right after the attack. They put pins and plates in the next day.”
Cameron, a self-employed cowboy, said he is somewhat satisfied with Haywood’s seven-year sentence, but wishes it was five to seven years longer.
“The whole thing has impacted my family a lot and it took me a while to get back to work,” Cameron said.
Haywood is required to spend at least half of his seven-year sentence in jail. However, due to prior criminal convictions, he will most likely serve the whole sentence, according to Bastrop County District Attorney Bryan Goertz.
“This was a difficult case to prosecute and the state is extremely satisfied with the sentence,” Goertz said. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Bastrop County.”