After asking boater to turn lights off, man brutally beaten at Lake Murray marina

Nearly a week after being brutally assaulted at Jake's Landing in Lexington County, a boater reached out for witnesses who may have seen the beating, according to the Sheriff's Department.

David Branham spoke to reporters Friday about the Sunday evening assault where he was attacked while taking his boat out of Lake Murray.

Branham asked a fellow boater to turn off his lights so he could see better, according to the statement. A group of people got out of the boat and beat him up, leaving him black and blue.

After realizing the exent of his injuries, he went to the hospital to be treated, according to the statement. There, he called deputies, but the suspects and witnesses had already left the area.

“The lake’s a fun time for my family and I, it’s the first time I’ve ever had anything like this happen in all those years,” Branham said to reporters. “I just feel like these guys, as easily as he would do that to me, he’d do that to somebody else. He needs to be caught and his friends that were with him, there’s one that was with him that knows it wasn’t right for what he’s done.”

Branham and his family are offering a $1,000 reward for any information that could lead to an arrest.