A father was beaten to death after he protected his children from other teens and adults outside of his home.
Christopher Michael Wright, 43, was at his Maryland home on May 19 when he was confronted by three teenagers and two adults.
As reported by WBAL-TV, the group was looking for the 14-year-old son of Wrights's fiancée who was involved in a fight with a teen at Brooklyn Park Middle School earlier that day.
The father informed the group that the 14-year-old wasn't going to come out and fight, and they reportedly said that he would have to fight in his place.
The group then set upon Wright and unleashed a brutal attack, and the father was rushed to a nearby hospital.
Sadly, he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday and was pronounced dead following a traumatic brain injury.
His fiancée, Tracy Karopchinsky, spoke to the outlet about the horrifying ordeal, as she revealed that her children sadly watched the events unfold.
"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," she said.
The fight was captured on the home's security camera as the three children who live at the residence were kept indoors.
Karopchinsky said: "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."
She went on to say that parents need to take responsibility for what she sees as an upscale in violence among teenagers.
"They didn’t just ruin our lives. Their lives are going to be changed forever," Karopchinsky continued. "Their parents’ lives are going to be changed forever, and nobody thinks about that just from a fight. 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."
Anne Arundel County police spokesman Marc Limansky spoke to WBAL-TV following the incident, saying: "Anyone who assisted who abetted or was an accomplice of the main suspect or the primary suspect will be culpable."
Wright's sister-in-law Kristin Karopchinsky revealed how heartbreaking it was to reveal to the children that their father was dead.
"I'll never forget the sound, I'll never forget the noise my nephews made when we had to tell them he was gone," she said.
Wright is being remembered as a devoted father and plans for a candlelit vigil are currently underway.
There have been no charges filed against any of those involved in the fight at this time.
Anyone with information is being urged to come forward by calling 410-222-4731 or the Anne Arundel County Police Tip Line at 410-222-4700.
Our thoughts are with Wright's loved ones at this time.
