Grandmother Debbie Jost Dies After Being Punched in the Face by a Stranger in a Bar

Debbie Jost was a 54-year-old grandmother who was enjoying living in Florida, where she had moved just two years ago to be near her son and his family when they were expecting her first grandchild. She loved being a grandma, and she loved living near the beach in Florida. Tragically, she was killed earlier this month after allegedly being sexually assaulted and attacked by a man in a Daytona Beach bar.

According to People, Jost was sitting at the bar just after midnight, when a strange 35-year-old man allegedly came into the bar and witnesses say he grabbed her from behind and started groping her breasts. She screamed at him to get his hands off her, and a nearby man rushed to her defense. He reportedly started to leave, but then came back in and punched her in the face, which knocked her backwards and her head struck the floor very badly.

Police responded to the 911 call and Jost was rushed to the hospital, but she died shortly afterwards of the injuries.

The suspect, Michael Lamothe, had left the bar, but he was found and arrested about an hour later and charged with aggravated assault and resisting arrest, and he was also charged with manslaughter when Jost died.

Lamothe has not yet entered a plea, but this does not sound like it is the first time he has done something like this, just the first time that he allegedly actually killed somebody. He reportedly has served 18 months of probation for battery, and in 2013 he was ordered to attend anger management and six months’ probation after punching a woman who worked in a bar that he was visiting.

Jost was the mother of three sons, two of whom live in Florida, and she seems to have very much enjoyed living near them. She seems to have been pretty well-known in the area. The owner of the restaurant next to the bar where she died said she was a regular, and just a sunny, nice person that got along with everybody. She liked the beach, and her son described her as a “Freebird kind of girl.” She had four grandchildren who adored her, and she really, really liked being a grandmother.

(Image: People / Remy Kimes)

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