Author’s Note: The Bay Net learned of Mr. Barnes through a press release announcing a parking lot yard sale scheduled for May 3 to raise funds for his medical bills. Michelle Voight of the Hampton Inn in Waldorf is a friend of Phillip Barnes and a colleague in the hotelier industry. Because the Barnes’ case is still open, the following lacks specific details, which will not be divulged by either Barnes or the Charles County Sheriff’s Office. However, it is a look into the life of one violent crime victim long after the headlines are gone and the spotlight has faded.

Late last November on a night away from his job as General Manager of the La Quinta Inn in Waldorf, Phillip Barnes was like most of us – happy with his life and his job. He thought he was on top of the world. He had worked his way up through the ranks for Sonny Patel, owner of La Quinta over the past five years to the top position at the hotel.

“When I discovered my job at the hotel, I thought, this is me.” Barnes told The Bay Net.

Barnes admits that he was a people-person and that working at a hotel gave him the opportunity to interact with new people all the time. In short, it was his idea of a dream job. However, that night, all he knew of life came to a sudden and terrifying halt.

Barnes had just returned home from visiting friends in Indian Head and was ready to go to bed. When he stepped out of his car, looking forward to the next day at work, his life flashed before him and his world came crashing down around him.

Two men, each armed, pulled their weapons.

“One had his gun against my head and told me to get on the ground and to give up all my money,” Barnes said.

The two men, still at-large to this day, shot Barnes multiple times after taking the few dollars he had with him. They left him lying in a pool of blood to die. Nothing has been seen of them since. The tragic legacy those armed robbers left behind, lingers to this day.

Five long months later, Barnes finds himself broke, fearful, and in pain. The bullets that tore through his body damaged one of his kidneys to the point he has to wear a tube inserted through his back into his kidney to drain the excess fluid. His arm, shattered by a bullet, still has a steel plate and screws holding it together and leaving his left hand numb. His L4 vertebrae was fractured and his L5 vertebrae was shattered by the attack.

The once vibrant young man still has a bullet lodged in one hip and a fragment injury to one of his legs leaving him on crutches.

The Bay Net asked him about his medical bills and how he was surviving. A tearful Barnes stated, “I am about to lose my truck to repossession, my cell phone has been cut off and all I get in the way of assistance is food stamps.”

He indicated that he has been in touch with various organizations about his financial situation, but nothing has come through for him yet. There is more therapy Barnes needs and another operation to correct his kidney, but without assistance or insurance, Barnes is unable to do more than visit his urologist.

“I talked with people from Victims of Violent Crimes and SSI,” he said. Nothing has come through for him to date.

Michelle Voight Tries to Help Her Friend Phillip Barnes

Enter Michelle Voight and friends. Voight, Director of Sales for her hotel, knew of Barnes plight. She admits they were friends before his attack. Voight and others fro