What Happens When a Lakeside Racist Attack Wasn’t Enough? One Man’s Bizarre Path to Jail.

What do you do after you’ve been caught on camera hurling rocks and racial slurs at a Black fisherman and his young daughter? If you’re 67-year-old David McPartlan of Massachusetts, the answer, according to prosecutors, was to allegedly try to pay someone to finish the job.
The story forces a disturbing question: when does a moment of hate stop being a single moment and become a campaign?
It began on a public lake last May. Sheron Brown and his 10-year-old daughter, Azaylia, were fishing on Lake Shirley when a waterfront homeowner, McPartlan, confronted them. He demanded they leave, then threw a large rock toward their boat. Brown’s cellphone recorded the crucial exchange: “Did you just throw a rock at me?” The reply was a venomous, “Yeah, I threw rocks at you, [racial slur].”
Arrested and charged, McPartlan was released. But did he see it as a chance for remorse? Allegedly, he saw it as a chance for revenge.
So here’s the next question: if you’re already facing serious charges, why would you risk everything to escalate?
Court documents claim that by September, McPartlan approached an employee with a deal: $500 to use a sledgehammer to destroy the engine of Brown’s boat, or be fired. He provided the Browns’ address and specific instructions. The employee refused and reported him, leading to new charges of witness intimidation.
A judge recently faced a pivotal question: could this man be trusted to follow any rule? Looking at the leap from rocks to an alleged bribery-for-vandalism plot, the answer was a resounding no. McPartlan was ordered jailed without bail for 90 days, deemed a danger who could not comply with court orders.
But what about the man behind the actions? His attorney argues we’re asking the wrong question. The real issue, he claims, is one of medical capacity. He describes McPartlan as an elderly man with a significant brain injury, a metal plate in his head, and cognitive decline, suggesting his client may not be fully responsible.
So, which is it? Is this the story of a calculated, hate-fueled harasser who wouldn’t stop? Or is it a tragic case of a medically compromised man making catastrophic decisions? The legal system will grapple with that.
But one final, haunting question lingers, especially for Sheron and Azaylia Brown: what if the employee had said yes?