A group of teenagers and adults seeking vengeance for a schoolyard brawl attacked and fatally beat a Baltimore, Maryland father outside his home.
According to the bereaved family, the incident occurred as Christopher Michael Wright, 43, valiantly protected his children from harm.
On Friday, May 19, two adults and three teenagers confronted Wright outside his home, targeting his stepson, a 14-year-old boy, who earlier that day had been involved in a physical altercation at Brooklyn Park Middle School. Determined to prevent further violence, Wright informed the group that his stepson would not engage in another fight. In response, the assailants said that if the boy would not fight, then Wright would have to take his place, Wright’s fiancée, Tracy Karopchinsky, told reporters.
The group then launched a brutal assault on Wright, leaving him severely injured. Doctors diagnosed Wright with a traumatic brain injury from which he died the next day. Karopchinsky expressed her disbelief at the extent of the damage inflicted on her boyfriend, emphasizing that mere punches could not have caused such severe harm. She noted that by the time the ambulance arrived, Wright had already suffered a seizure, making medical intervention unsuccessful.
The attack was captured by a security camera, which also recorded the moment when Karopchinsky’s three children witnessed the brutal attack outside their home. The couple’s 12-year-old child can be seen in the footage screaming, “Daddy, daddy, daddy,” before darting into the street in a desperate attempt to help his father.
School officials confirmed the earlier fight and pledged their cooperation with the ongoing investigation conducted by Anne Arundel County police.
