A Perry man was arrested on a Dallas County warrant Wednesday in connection with an incident in March at the Perry boat ramp, where he allegedly attempted to murder another man.
Michael Jason, Godwin, 31, of 1311 First Ave., Perry, was charged with attempted murder and willful injury causing bodily injury.
According to court records, on March 2 about 8:30 p.m. at the Perry boat ramp, Godwin allegedly repeatedly struck the victim “in the face with a metal jack handle.” The victim fought off the attack, but Godwin “continued to try and strike him with the jack handle.”
The victim “suffered facial fractures, a broken nose and continued eyesight problems from the attack.”
Witnesses identified Godwin as the attacker and said the attack was unprovoked. A witness
overheard Godwin say that “he was going to beat up and kill” the victim prior to the attack, according to court records.
Godwin is held in the Dallas County Jail without bond pending an initial appearance in Dallas County District Court.
Godwin was convicted of assault in 2019 in Dallas County District Court. He was convicted of assault in 2017 in Greene County District Court. Godwin was convicted on two counts of first-offense domestic abuse assault-use or display of a weapon in 2015 in Dallas County District Court. He was convicted of disorderly conduct-fighting or violent behavior in 2012 in Polk County District Court. A charge of assault against Godwin was dismissed in 2008 in Polk County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
From 1380kcim in 2017: “The first warrant requested is for 27-year-old Michael Jason Godwin of Jefferson for false report to a public entity, a simple misdemeanor. The charges stem from a Feb. 10 incident, in which Godwin made a report at approximately 2:35 a.m. that a subject had entered his home and assaulted him. No evidence of the assault was found, so the officer stayed in the area. At approximately 3:12 a.m., Godwin again reported to authorities that the subject was attempting to get back into his residence and he could see the male outside in a pickup. The officer, who was parked across the street, saw no vehicles in the area.”
Do we have a mentally ill person who has been attacking people over the years and who has now escalated to this? Or was that a case of not sleeping for days and the shadow people had become real to him? Mental illness or massive drug use really is the only choice except for choosing both. Hopefully, he won’t plead this case down like all his others. Any one of those prior cases could have put him in prison, but for some reason we needed to put him on probation (he’s on it now for assault). Whether he could have been helped prior to this is a moot point now. Obviously, neither he nor his victims have been “helped” by the leniency he has been shown through the years. Whoever he was before he got to this point is gone, and now it’s time to keep the community safe.