Bend man arraigned on attempted murder charge in baseball-bat attack on roommate; new details of crime revealed

(Update: Court appearance, new details of crime)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend man who police said called 911 early Sunday to report he’d struck his roommate in the head with a baseball bat was arraigned on attempted murder and other charges Monday afternoon, as the victim remained in critical condition and authorities revealed more details about the crime.

Police responded to a home in the 19000 block of Southwest Arrow Wood Drive in the Romaine Village manufactured-home neighborhood shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday, finding Stephen Jay Steria, 58, in a pool of blood with severe head injuries and arresting roommate Timothy John Boyd, 66, on attempted murder and other charges.

While Boyd looked on by video Monday afternoon from the Deschutes County Jail, Deputy District Attorney Brooks McClain told Circuit Judge Michelle McIver that Steria was found “laying in a large amount of blood, with blood spatter all over the room.”

In fact, McClain said, first responders initially believed Steria was dead, but upon closer inspection found he was still alive.

“A baseball bat was found very close by, up against the wall,” he said. “The defendant made numerous statements about what incurred. One of those was that his intent was to kill his roommate.”

McClain said law enforcement called to the scene also believed Boyd had been using alcohol before they arrived.

The judge agreed with the prosecutor’s request to set bail for Boyd at $500,000 and be subject to numerous conditions if he’s released, including no use or possession of alcohol, no contact with the victim and require he wear “high-risk GPS monitoring.”

Boyd is due back in court in a week for arraignment on an expected formal indictment.

Police responded shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday to a Deschutes County 911 call from a man reporting an assault at a manufactured home in the 19000 block of Arrow Wood Drive, in the Romaine Village neighborhood in southwest Bend, Bend Police Communications Manager Sheila Miller said. The caller, identified as Boyd, told dispatchers he'd hit his roommate in the head with a baseball bat.

Officers provided medical aid to the victim until Bend Fire & Rescue medics arrived and took him to St. Charles Bend, where Miller said he was in the intensive care unit. A hospital spokeswoman said he remained in critical condition later Monday.

Miller said Boyd was taken into custody without incident and brought to the Bend Police Department before being lodged at the county jail on felony charges of second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon. Those were the charges filed against him Monday.

Boyd has no prior felony charges or convictions, court records showed, though he pleaded guilty to a 2022 DUII charge and completed a diversion program, leading to dismissal of that charge earlier this year.