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Teens charged after 18-year-old violently beaten in church parking lot

VALDESE, N.C. — Police have charged two teens after an 18-year-old was severely beaten in Valdese.

Dravin Keith Phillips-Rice is in critical condition at a Charlotte hospital after he was found unresponsive, with multiple head and face injuries, in a church parking lot Monday.

On Monday night, while he was taking out the trash, a custodian at Waldensian Presbyterian Church saw a truck with its door open.

The custodian then saw the teen, who had been beaten, choked and knocked unconscious.

Valdese Police Chief Jack Moss said that, if the custodian hadn't found Phillips-Rice at that time, he may have died.

(Dravin Keith Phillips-Rice)

After interviewing witnesses, police arrested 16-year-old Kelby Christopher Graybeal and 17-year-old Hunter Alan Hamby, both of Valdese.

"I'm angry. Words can't explain,” said Christian Kulcsar, Phillips-Rice’s friend. “Find out your best friend is on life support in the hospital. That's not a good feeling."

A security camera at Waldensian Presbyterian Church apparently captured video of Graybeal and Hamby putting on masks or bandanas to cover their faces.

Police said they then walked over to the parking lot and severely beat Phillips-Rice, fracturing his skull.

Hamby reportedly choked the 18-year-old.

Church worker Jason Adams may have delayed the assault.

He came to church to get items from the office. He said police told him the suspects waited until he left.

"It's a little unnerving to think that someone would be hurt so bad just a few steps behind mine,” Adams said.

Valdese Fire Chief Charles Watts was one of the first responders.

Channel 9 learned Phillips-Rice used to be a junior firefighter.

"It makes it a little more difficult because the stress that you are treating one of your own,” Watts said. “The world is not a very nice place anymore."

Members of the church where Phillips-Rice was found are now praying for him.

"Within 30 minutes, I was lifting up prayers and then we got the congregation responding,” Kevin Fredrick, the pastor, said.

Friends said Phillips-Rice is doing much better.

Hamby is charged with assault by strangulation, and Graybeal is charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

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