A Maryland father was reportedly beaten to death while defending his son from a middle school brawl, prompting an investigation into the incident from police and school officials.
Anne Arundel County police are investigating after 43-year-old Christopher Michael Wright was beaten to death outside of his home May 19 while protecting his 14-year-old son, WBAL-TV reported. Tracy Karopchinsky, Wright’s fiancé, claimed that three teens and two adults arrived at their home Friday afternoon, searching for her 14-year-old son who had been involved in a fight at Brooklyn Park Middle School earlier that day, the outlet reported.
“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 told WBAL-TV.
After the alleged beating, Wright was transported to a shock trauma center where he succumbed to his injuries the following day, the outlet reported. Wright reportedly suffered a traumatic brain injury. (RELATED: Police Charge Group Of Eight Teenage Girls With Murder After They Allegedly Killed Homeless Man)
Family: School fight led to fatal assault of children’s father https://t.co/nRFxG8NxzW
— WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore (@wbaltv11) May 23, 2023
“Just looking at the damage that was done to him, that wasn’t just punching that did that. Like, there’s no way that punching did that. The damage was done before the ambulance ever took him away. I mean, he’d had a seizure. It was done. There was nothing that the hospital could do,” Karopchinsky told WBAL-TV News.
The incident was captured on two security cameras belonging to Wright and a neighbor which Anne Arundel police are using in their investigation into the matter. “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 told the outlet. The school is reportedly assisting police with the investigation.
“They didn’t just ruin our lives. Their lives are going to be changed forever. Their parents’ lives are going to be changed forever, and nobody thinks about that just from a fight,” Tracy Karopchinsky told WBAL-TV. “It is everywhere, and somewhere, we as parents are failing these children as parents. It’s not the school’s responsibility. It’s our responsibility.”