A man who police say beat two north Alabama women left one with a fractured spine and left another alone only after she stopped moving as though dead.
Florence police have charged Michael Kirkland Jr., 34, of Florence, with burglary, sodomy, robbery and assault, all in the first degree. He is being held in the Lauderdale County Detention Center without bail.
According to police, officers were called to a home in the 400 block of Howell Street at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Inside the home were two people with multiple injuries.
A 79-year-old female was transported to UAB Hospital by AirEvac, and a 76-year-old female was taken to North Alabama Medical Center. Both victims remain hospitalized.
Police said Kirkland was arrested after officers reviewed video from a doorbell camera of a suspect leaving the home. They also recovered evidence connecting Kirkland to the incident.
According to court documents, Kirkland gained entry to the house when he knocked on the door of the 79-year-old’s home and asked for a glass of water.
Once inside, he knocked her to the floor, struck her in the face, and tied her hands and feet using a sash from a robe. He threatened to kill her with a knife and threw her onto a bed. He then shoved her in a closet and shut the door.
A 76-year-old caregiver came into the house using a key. She discovered the woman in the closet. Kirkland, according to documents, struck her in the face with a lamp and another object, and told her he would have to kill her since she had seen his face.
She gave him her vehicle keys, and he then beat her until she lay motionless.
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