After Beating, 2 More Arrests

Nearly , stuffed in the trunk of his own car and driven from BridgeMill to Alabama, U.S. Marshals made two additional arrests in the case on Thursday.

And both men are acquaintances of the victim's two sons, said Lt. Jay Baker, the spokesman for the . 

Will Cortez Robinson and Robert Silva Jr., both of Atlanta, are currently in custody at the Fulton County Jail, Baker said this morning in a news release.

Robinson, 24, and Silva, 22, will be transported to the , where they will be held without bond on charges of aggravated battery, aggravated assault and kidnapping with bodily injury.

On March 4, the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office in Alabama pulled over a gold 2004 Mercury Sable for a routine traffic stop. Melvin Floyd of Atlanta was behind the wheel. After noticing suspicious behavior, authorities searched the car and found Lyndon Baines Smith's badly beaten body in the trunk.

Smith, 46, was transported to a hospital with broken facial bones and broken ribs, while Floyd was taken into custody in Cleburne County.

Before Floyd allegedly stuffed Smith in the trunk of the victim's own car and drove him across state lines, authorities said he .

"Accused continued to kick victim after he lost consciousness," according to an arrest affidavit.

The 22-year-old from Atlanta kicked Smith so hard, he "maliciously caused bodily harm to the person by seriously disfiguring him," an investigator wrote in the affidavit.

Cleburne County officials told Cherokee authorities that they believed the beating happened at 4140 Gold Mill Ridge, where Smith's 17- and 23-year-old sons live. Evidence obtained through a search warrant confirmed as much.

Floyd, also an acquaintance of Smith's sons, was  on charges of kidnapping with injury, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and theft of motor vehicle. He was released from the county jail on March 17 on $88,800 bond, Baker said today.

He didn't know the conditions of Floyd's release and wouldn't say what motivated the beating on March 4.

"There are several possible motives but at this time we are not going to speculate definitively which one lead to the attack," Baker said. "Investigators continue to establish that aspect of the case. As I said, more arrests are possible. At this time, I prefer not to expand on that. The case remains open."

Smith is expected to recover from his injuries.