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Suspect Arrested In Brutal Beating Of San Pedro High Baseball Player

SAN PEDRO (CBSLA.com) – A 20-year-old man has been arrested on attempted murder charges in the violent assault of a San Pedro High School baseball player earlier this year.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators arrested Jaymel Williams Thursday morning in Long Beach.

Williams is one of two men suspected of beating 15-year-old freshman Evan Jimenez in the late-night hours of March 30 in an alley in the La Rambla neighborhood. He was walking home from a friend's house after having played in a junior varsity baseball game earlier in the day.

Jimenez was kicked, stomped, choked beyond recognition and left to die in what authorities said may have been a gang initiation. A Good Samaritan found him and drove him to a hospital, where he was unconscious for several days. He was released from the hospital in April and is expected to make a full recovery.

Sheriff's investigators identified Williams as a suspect in the early part of the investigation, LASD reports. On May 9 -- while Williams was in custody in a neighboring county on unrelated charges -- he was interviewed by detectives.

It's unclear why charges were not brought against him earlier, or why he was not already in custody.

Meanwhile, back in May, the sheriff's department reported that the second man involved in the beating was considered a person of interest and had not been charged. His name was not released.

Williams was booked into the L.A. County jail on $1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.

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