According to the Courier, a Waterloo man has been found guilty of dropping a Texas man headfirst onto concrete and then stomping on his head.
A Black Hawk County jury deliberated for half a day Friday and returned to the courthouse Monday to continue before finding Michael Thomas Heggebo, 25, guilty of willful injury causing serious injury.
The charge is a felony that carries up to 10 years in prison, and sentencing will be at a later date.
The victim, Derrius Hollis, 23, is from Humble, Texas. He traveled to Waterloo in May to see a woman he met on a dating app. The woman is the mother of Heggebo’s infant child, although the two didn’t have a relationship.
Authorities said Hollis had been in Waterloo for about four days when Heggebo swung at him, hitting him in the head. Hollis then swung back and missed, and Heggebo picked him up, dropped him headfirst onto the driveway and then stomped on his head several times, witnesses said.
At trial, the defense said Heggebo had come over to simply talk to the mother of his child because of a concern over the child’s care when he was attacked by Hollis.
Hollis was taken to MercyOne Waterloo Medical Center where doctors had to remove part of his skull to relieve deadly pressure. He was in a coma for a month, almost died several times and had part of his brain removed.
He remains hospitalized with cognitive disabilities, and family members are making arrangements to move him to an inpatient rehab hospital in Texas.