East Texan dies after alleged beating by husband

TYLER — On Thanksgiving night, Patti McHugh Gage's husband -- well known East Texan Kelly Gage was taken into custody for allegedly brutally beating her.

Nicholas McHugh says -- it's not the first time.

"One by one, my mom's friends dropped away, you know her jobs dropped away, she had two jobs at the time, and when my mom quit her second job is when I first got hit," McHugh said.

McHugh says his stepfather even tried to kill him at one point. but to his knowledge, he never touched his little brother -- Gage's biological son.

Friends of Patti Gage say her husband would get very violent after drinking.

McHugh believes that's what happened on Thanksgiving night.

"I believe he went into a rage...he did something to my mom, he has a past history of hitting my mom.  In Washington, he cornered her in the bathtub and was grabbing her hair and slamming her head into the tile," McHugh said.

When Gage brought his wife to the hospital, friends say she had suffered severe brain stem damage -- and had no brain activity.

Early Wednesday morning, she was taken off of life support.

Now, Nicholas says it's now his mission in life to help victims of domestic violence.

"It's not your fault.  Even if you've been in it a very long time, you need to get out and get help...otherwise...you will get hurt," McHugh said.

Friends of Patti Gage say Kelly told several different tales about what happened on Thanksgiving night.

But authorities eventually charged him with aggravated assault.

Smith County deputies now tell KETK, it's up to the district attorney as to whether the charge will be changed to murder.