JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times

George Leroy Baker III, 81, of Tempe, Ariz., in Lynchburg for a wedding, was beaten in the 1100 block of downtown's Main Street. Three teenage boys have been charged in his death.

George Leroy Baker III was in Lynchburg to see his granddaughter, a Liberty University graduate, be married.

LYNCHBURG -- There are no flowers, candles or pictures memorializing the spot in downtown Lynchburg where police said three teens fatally beat an 81-year-old man Sunday to impress a group of girls.

But the violence that erupted on Main Street will not soon be forgotten by residents and business owners in a city that last year saw no homicides and know their historic downtown to be safe.

"Everyone's sickened by it," said City Manager Kimball Payne, who called the killing a "random act of insanity."

Three juveniles -- two 16-year-olds and a 13-year-old -- have been charged with murder in the death of George Leroy Baker III, of Tempe, Ariz.

Police have not released the suspects' identities, but two are named in search warrants that were sealed Wednesday. Earlier copies of the court documents posted to the website of WDBJ (Channel 7) identify one of the suspects as Kenneth Davis. Another suspect is referred to only as "Jackson."

The search warrant identifying Davis was also posted to The (Lynchburg) News & Advance's website.

Jackson admitted to kicking Baker, and Davis' mother reported him as a runaway in May, according to the documents.

The teens were arrested Tuesday and will be tried as adults. It was unclear Wednesday whether the teenagers had attorneys.

The boys were with a group walking in the 1100 block of Main Street about 11 p.m. Sunday, Lynchburg police Capt. Todd Swisher said.

Witnesses heard Davis say that he was going to hit the first person he saw to impress the girls who were with him, according to a search warrant.

Baker was in Lynchburg to see his granddaughter, a Liberty University graduate, be married. He had a room at the Craddock Terry Hotel, and was about two blocks away when he crossed paths with the teens, police said.

A witness dining at the nearby Hash House saw a teen kick Baker in the face after he'd been knocked down, according to a search warrant.

Two others told police they saw Davis run up to Baker and heard what sounded like someone being hit.

Baker was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital and died early Monday.

Baker's death, the third homicide in the city this year, left the community shocked.

At Liberty University, a concert choir class said a prayer for Baker and his family, junior Stephanie Gardner said.

Staff at the Hash House, a block from where Baker was beaten, were still shaken Wednesday.

Kim Hamilton, a server, said she'd spent more than an hour talking with Baker when he came in for green eggs and ham Friday morning.

He told her Lynchburg was a beautiful city brimming with history, which he was eager to learn.

"He had a smile on his face the whole time," Hamilton said. "He was just a beautiful man."

Even the police struggled to understand Baker's death.

"Trying to rationalize this -- you just can't do it," Swisher said.

Some worried that the violence would mar downtown, where new shops and loft apartments have opened in recent years.

"There is so much revitalization going on, it's a shame to have that scar on the community," said Michelle Rivers, owner of Urban Merchant, a boutique.

Payne, the city manager, said that for years crime was one of the reasons people were reluctant to go downtown.

Now, he said, "there is a degree of determination that this is not going to set us back."