'Lucky he didn't die,' Hazel Park dad says after son beaten

By Andrea Isom
Fox 2 News Reporter

HAZEL PARK, Mich. (WJBK) -- 20-year-old Brent Holloway was badly beaten Tuesday night.  His folks say he was a mile and a half away from his Hazel Park home when a group of guys ran up on him on Maxlow Street.

"He left his friend's house to walk home at about 10:30 last night," said Shelly Holloway, Brent's stepmother.

His father, Adam Holloway, explained, "Somebody approached him, asked him for a cigarette, and as soon as he said..."

"That he didn't have one to give him, he was hit upside the head," his step mom said, completing the thought.

"He got hit in all directions, side to side, from the back.  He said he immediately went to the ground, covered his head up.  They just kept kicking him and stomping him in the face," his father told us.

However, Adam Holloway said one of his son's attackers had enough sense to say, "Stop, you're going to kill him, and that was the last thing he heard and he was out."

"What if he didn't wake up?  He'd be dead.  If somebody would've punched him one more time, he would've been dead.  He's that close."

Brent Holloway somehow woke up and staggered home.  His girlfriend called 911 to get him to a hospital.

"He has suffered damage to his retina," his stepmother explained.  "His optic nerve has been damaged.  They don't know how bad.  He may never see out of his right eye again.  His jawbone is pretty much shattered."

"Broken nose, teeth are chipped up and messed up," she added.  "Both of his cheekbones are shattered, and he's still undergoing testing."

"There's no reason to do this.  He doesn't have people after him.  He doesn't fight with people," his father said.

The Holloways are speaking out because they want the people responsible behind bars.

"This should be attempted murder," his father remarked.  "They left him for dead.  He's lucky he didn't die."

We're told Holloway was not robbed and believes at one point he was being hit with a baseball bat.