Man attacks another with hatchet at Northeast Austin rec center: affidavit

AUSTIN, Texas - A man is in custody for attacking another with a hatchet at a Northeast Austin rec center on Good Friday.

22-year-old Davondre Deon Lee has been charged with second-degree felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and is currently in the Travis County jail on a $25,000 bond.

What we know:

Court paperwork says that Lee's arrest stems from an incident on April 3 at the Gus Garcia Recreation Center on E. Rundberg Lane.

APD officers responded around noon to reports of a stabbing. When they arrived, a staff member flagged them down and pointed them to the person accused of doing the stabbing.

Officers found the man, identified in the affidavit as Lee, sitting inside the rec center and detained him.

Officers also found the victim walking around the back of the rec center with a cloth wrapped around his arm. EMS arrived on scene to render medical aid and take him to Dell Seton.

The affidavit describes the victim's injuries as several cuts to his right arm, with two large wounds "consistent with being deeply cut by a sharp object" and one having a "continuous spurt of blood coming from it." The victim told officers he had been attacked by someone wielding a machete or a hatchet. 

He said that he frequents the rec center and had taken it upon himself to be an informal security guard. He also said that the rec center employees had been having issues with Lee for the past month because Lee would cause disturbances. The victim also said he believes Lee stole some tools from him.

When he saw Lee at the center that day, the victim told him to leave, making Lee upset, says the affidavit. Lee then "squared up" to him. The victim told officers he never touched Lee, but all of a sudden he pulled out a hatchet from his waistband and swung it at him several times, striking him at least twice. One of the staff members witnessed the incident and called 911.

A witness told officers that she had been sitting near the pavilion and saw the two men in the grassy area square up like they were about to fight, then saw Lee pull out a "knife-like object" and cut the victim with it.

Video surveillance footage showed Lee holding a homemade hatchet in his right hand and never losing possession of it. It was also found on Lee in his waistband when officers detained and searched him, says the affidavit.

Previous criminal history

Dig deeper:

Travis County court records show this is not Lee's first run-in with Austin police.

In 2020, he was charged with misdemeanor burglary of vehicles and had his bond forfeited twice before eventually being sentenced to 30 days in county jail.

He was charged in 2021 with felony possession of a controlled substance, but no formal criminal charges were pursued.

In 2022, he was arrested and originally charged with felony robbery, and had his bond forfeited on this charge too. He was eventually convicted on a lesser misdemeanor charge and sentenced to 90 days in county jail.

He had a misdemeanor for criminal mischief dismissed in 2023 and no formal charges filed for another possession charge in January.