A US father was beaten to death in front of his son after intervening to protect another of his children from a school fight that escalated to include adults.
43-year-old Christopher Wright of Maryland was killed on his own doorstep after a group of adults and teenagers came to the family home looking for his 14-year-old son Trenton.
Wright’s fiancée Tracy Karopchinsky told WBAL News that the fight started between Trenton and another boy at nearby Brooklyn Park Middle School last Friday afternoon before adults became involved.
“Chris came out to tell them, like, he’s not coming out here to fight, and they threatened at one point to come in and get him, and then they said, ‘If he’s not going to fight, then you’re going to fight,’” Karopchinsky said.
Wright was rushed to hospital but died the next day after suffering traumatic brain injuries.
According to a Go Fund Me set up by Wright’s sister-in-law Kristin Karopchinsky, the brave dad was beaten in the head before he was slammed repeatedly into the concrete.
Tracy Karopchinksy said that Wright suffered a seizure following the attack and “there was nothing that the hospital could do.”
‘Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!’
WBAL reported that the attack, which was witnessed by her three children, was captured on security cameras and Wright’s fiancée made a heartbreaking discovery when she watched the footage.
“My dad and I tried to go on the camera to look, and the first video that comes up is my 12-year-old son screaming, ‘Daddy, Daddy, Daddy’, and running out of the house to go into the street and help his dad,” Tracy Karopchinsky said.
“I couldn’t watch anymore after that. I just couldn’t.”
Local police said they are investigating and report that charges could be filed against the alleged attackers.
“Anyone who assisted who abetted or was an accomplice of the main suspect or the primary suspect will be culpable,” Anne Arundel County police spokesman Marc Limansky said.