Collier man facing murder charge in friend’s beating death

Published: Updated:
David Badger. Photo via the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

NAPLES, Fla. A 36-year-old man is facing a second-degree murder charge after the friend he’s accused of beating died from his injuries, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said.

David Badger, of the 2000 block of Airport Road South, was originally facing a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after allegedly attacking East Naples resident Travis Peak, 34, with a stick on March 29, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Peak died April 7.

The alleged beating took place during a birthday party at Peak’s home on the 3100 block of Karen Drive. Though Badger and Peak were friends, “they were always bickering,” according to William Demilio, who was at the house.

When deputies arrived, Peak was unconscious and bleeding profusely. Deputies also found what appeared to be fragments of his skull nearby, the sheriff’s office said.

Peak was taken to Naples Community Hospital and later to Shands Hospital in Gainesville. The injuries rendered him “essentially a vegetable,” brother-in-law Jonas Williams said.

Badger was arrested Tuesday at the Collier County jail, where’s he’s been held on $200,000 bond since his original arrest on March 29.

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