Two teens are charged with assault with the intent to do murder and will be tried as adults and will be in court Tuesday for their preliminary exam.
The teens, 13-year-old Martell Dewberry and 14-year-old DeVante howard, are being held at the Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility.
"He's a wonderful kid, he's very respectable to the elderly people in the community, and I think he was just brought into something, not being in my care," said Mark Real, Martell's father.
Meanwhile, the victim, Nick Veselenak, known affectionately in the community as the "Cat Man," is still hospitalized at Detroit Receiving Hospital.
Veselenak is known for taking care of all the stray cats in the neighborhood.
A prosecutor says the only motive they have been able to find is a thrill-beating -- beating a stranger for the thrill of it and no other reason.
If either boy is convicted they could spend life in prison.