MEHLVILLE • A man was beaten to death with a metal baseball bat Thursday morning on the parking lot of a strip mall near the South County Center.

Police identified the victim as Terry Lee Dunn, 61, of west St. Louis County. A family member said Dunn was attacked by his son, but police would say only that the victim and attacker knew each other.

Police said the attacker went to a small office building in the strip mall looking for Dunn about 10 a.m. Dunn worked as a consultant for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education there.

Dunn and the attacker walked out to the parking lot together, and the attacker began hitting Dunn in the head with a metal bat he had concealed, police said.

Witnesses tried to stop the attack and the man dropped the bat, police said. He then sat down next to the victim’s body and was there when police arrived and arrested him.

Dunn, of the 16000 block of Forest Valley Drive near Ballwin, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are seeking charges against the suspect.