A Maryland father was brutally beaten to death by a mob of teens and adults as he was trying to protect his child from a middle school fight.
Christopher Michael Wright, 43, was confronted outside his home by three teens and two adults that were looking for his fiancée’s 14-year-old son.
The angry mod of three teens and two adults demanded to continue the fight with the 14-year old. When Wright declined to produce the child, the mob attacked him, and he died later at the hospital from brain trauma.
According to Fox News:
The boy, 14, had gotten in a fight at Brooklyn Park Middle School with another teen, and they wanted to continue the fight after school, but Wright told them he was not going to let them fight with the boy. His fiancée, Tracy Karopchinsky, told 11 News that the suspects had then turned their attention on Wright, telling him that if the boy would not fight, they would fight with him instead.
Things then spun out of control as the mob attacked Wright. When the police arrived, paramedics were already working on Wright. He later died at an area hospital from major brain trauma. His fiancée, Tracy Karopchinsky, said this about what happened: “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,”
Luckily, the assault was caught on security camera, so the responsible parties should be identified and punished swiftly. However, when Karopchinsky tried to view the footage, it was too difficult to watch. The New York Post reported:
“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,” Karopchinsky said. “And I couldn’t watch any more after that. I just couldn’t.”
Police are seeking help in locating and identifying the attackers, despite the assault allegedly being caught on security cameras. School officials are also looking into who was involved in the schoolyard fight and the connection to the brutal murder.
School officials confirmed the fight at the school and said they are cooperating with Anne Arundel County police during their investigation, WBAL-TV reported.
No charges have been filed against any of the individuals involved.
Kids will fight, especially when they are entering the difficult, hormonally-charged middle school years. However, despite whatever circumstances caused the alleged schoolyard fight, adults joining in should never happen. We have a parenting problem in this country, and it seemingly gets worse every day.
A man lost his life, and two kids lost their dad because the adults couldn’t control themselves or their kids.
“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,” Karopchinsky said. “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.”
It is a responsibility too-few parents want to bear. Until the adults are held accountable and are willing to actually parent their kids, this sort of thing will continue to happen. Hopefully the perpetrators will be brought to justice, and a message will be sent that this is just unacceptable.
A Gofundme page has been set up by the family.
Christopher Wright passed away with his family by his side. Yesterday, following an altercation at school, three teens and two unknown adult male relatives of one of the boys approached the home of the Wright/Karopchinsky family and began to threaten Trenton with physical violence. Chris went outside to defend his son and was beaten in the head and his head was slammed on the concrete repeatedly causing significant brain damage. These men took the life of an amazing father and life partner. He left this Earth and those who loved him way too soon. His children Tryston, Trenton, and Tevin are now without their father. Tracy, his partner, needs help with funeral costs and help financially with the cost of raising their three boys alone. Please help this family say goodbye to Chris and help secure a future for his children
Donations to the Gofundme for Christopher Wright can be made here
Featured image screen grab from Gofundme link
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