Dad killed protecting his kid over middle school fight
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A dad was beaten to death on his doorstep after a fight broke out at his child's school and several people showed up at his house afterwards.
Christopher Wright died on Saturday (20 May) in hospital after the alleged attack had taken place the previous day at his home.
His fiancée Tracy Karopchinsky said her 14-year-old son had got into a fight with another teenager at Brooklyn Park Middle School which had resulted in three teenagers and two adults showing up to their house later in the day.
She said that Wright had told the group that the teenager would not be coming outside to continue the fight that had started at school.
Karopchinsky told WBAL-TV that the group told the 43-year-old 'if he's not going to fight then you're going to fight' before attacking him.
Wright was then attacked and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he died the next day.
"Chris came out to tell them 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'," his fiancée said.
"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."
The incident was caught on security cameras which were owned by Wright and a neighbor, as Karopchinsky said she saw part of the footage.
She said: "I was at Shock Trauma, and initially, my dad and I tried to go onto 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 into the street to go help his dad.
"And, I couldn't watch anymore after that. I just couldn't."
Anne Arundel County Police said they were investigating the matter and told 11 News that charges could be brought, while the school is cooperating with the investigation.
They said: "Anyone who assisted who abetted or was an accomplice of the main suspect or the primary suspect will be culpable."
Tracy said Christopher's family were planning a candlelit vigil in his memory and called on parents to do more for their children.
She said: "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.
"We as parents are failing these children. It's not the school's responsibility. It's our responsibility."
