A dad was brutally beaten to death outside his house while trying to protect his children from a group who wanted to finish a school fight, according to his family.
Christopher Michael Wright, 43, from Maryland, was allegedly beaten outside his home on Friday by a group of teenagers and adults who were looking for his fiancée’s 14-year-old son.
Three teens and two adults were searching for the child after he apparently gotten in a fight with another teen at Brooklyn Park Middle School earlier in the day.
Mr Wright died at the hospital the next day from a traumatic brain injury after the alleged attack.
"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," Tracy Karopchinsky, said Mr Wright's fiancée, told WBAL-TV.
The deadly beating was caught on the security camera.
Ms Karopchinsky’s three children were all at home at the time.
“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,” she said.
“And, I couldn’t watch anymore after that. I just couldn’t."
Kristin Karopchinsky, the victim's sister-in-law said: "I'll never forget the sound, I'll never forget the noise my nephews made when we had to tell them he was gone."
His fiancée said Chris was a devoted father, her best friend, who loved the stars and gardening.
His family are planning a candlelight vigil to honour his memory.
"He was a friend to everybody," she added.
"I mean, just the outpour we've been getting from friends and just, they're really, really gonna miss out on somebody with a really big heart. He loved beyond."
Tevin Wright, Chris's youngest son, said his dad really took care of them.
"She would usually be at work and like he would be the one person to take care of us every weekday," Tevin said.
"I would get home and I would see him, which would make me smile."
Anne Arundel County police said they are investigating and that charges could be filed against the individuals involved.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 410-222-4731 or the Anne Arundel County Police Tip Line at 410-222-4700.
