A man has been sentenced to six months probation in the 2016 beating death of a McCall’s Tavern employee at Spanish Springs Town Square.
The altercation claimed the life of 26-year-old Austin Stevens.
Nicholas Metcalfe, 21, of Belleview, Tuesday in Lake County Court pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of battery. He had originally been charged with felony battery at the time of his arrest in June 2016.
Metcalfe has been placed on six months probation and ordered to pay $772 in fines, fees and court costs. Metcalfe will have to submit to random drug screens during his probation.
The judge in the case was Lawrence Semento. Metcalfe was represented by the public defender’s office.
Metcalfe’s co-defendant in the case, 21-year-old Brice Hall, is being represented by criminal defense attorney Stacy Youmans. She announced earlier this year that she plans to use a Stand Your Ground defense. The case is set for trial on Nov. 5.
Hall and Metcalfe were still teenagers when they and two friends drove a minivan to the vicinity of Spanish Springs Town Square on the night of June 5, 2016 where they drove recklessly, sped around the square and were spinning tires in the parking lots, according to a report from the Lady Lake Police Department. When the group drove by McCall’s Tavern where Stevens was working, they proceeded to yell profanities at employees cleaning the patio area. When the group parked the minivan near TooJay’s restaurant, Stevens left McCall’s Tavern to confront them.
While confronting two of the van’s occupants, Hall ran up behind Stevens and punched Stevens on the side of his head causing Stevens to fall to the ground and strike the back of his head on the concrete. While on the ground and unresponsive, Metcalfe kicked Stevens in the face, police said.
When officers arrived on scene, Stevens was alert, mobile, and coherent. Officers observed Stevens to have a bloody nose and they called for an ambulance. Stevens agreed to go the hospital and get checked out but he refused to make a statement about the incident. After being evaluated at The Villages Regional Hospital, it was determined that his injuries were more severe than originally thought and he was transferred to the trauma center at Ocala Regional Medical Center where he later died of injuries suffered in the altercation.
