Christopher Wright can be seen with his fiancée, Tracy Karopchinsky, and the three children he died protecting. (GoFundMe; Facebook)
A Maryland father-of-three was beaten to death in his front yard as he protected his children from a college brawl that returned to the Anne Arundel County family home late last week, according to authorities.
Christopher Michael Wright, 43, died Saturday of a traumatic brain injury in a hospital.
The violence reportedly took place the day before.
At Brooklyn Park Middle School, Wright’s 14-year-old son got into a fight with another teenager on Friday afternoon and went home, according to an account from the man’s family that was passed on to WBAL , a Baltimore-based NBC affiliate.
School officials reportedly confirmed the fight started on campus and were working with law enforcement on the investigation.
Wright’s fiancée, Tracy Karopchinsky, explained the terrifying events.
“Chris came out to tell them, like, he’s not coming here to fight, and they threatened at one point to come and get him, and then they said, ‘If he’s not going to fight, then you are going to fight,” she told WBAL. “Just looking at the damage done to him, it wasn’t just the punches that did that. Like, there’s no way the punch did that. The damage was done before even though the ambulance had taken him. I mean, he had had a seizure. It was done. There was nothing the hospital could do.
But law enforcement says it wasn’t just a teenager who followed the boy to his home on Arundel Road West in Brooklyn. According to the Anne Arundel County Police Department, the suspects are described as three to four white males in their 20s and 30s.
“On May 19, 2023, at approximately 5:00 p.m., officers responded to a report of an assault that just occurred,” the AACPD said in a news release. “The victim was transported to an area trauma center for treatment of a life-threatening injury. During their investigation, officers learned that suspects had arrived at the victim’s home in reference to a prior altercation. A physical altercation ensued, and during this altercation, the victim suffered life-threatening injuries. On May 20, 2023, at approximately 9:45 p.m., the victim succumbed to his injuries and was declared dead in hospital.
Wright’s sister-in-law, Kristin Karopchinsky, relayed a similar version of events in comments to Inside Edition this week.
“Two men and three college kids came to the house to assault my nephew,” his sister-in-law said. “Chris died fighting to protect his son. He suffered a catastrophic brain injury and had no brain function when he arrived at the hospital.
Kristin Karopchinsky is co-organizing a GoFundMe for funeral expenses and the obvious expenses the man’s grieving fiancée will incur raising her children without Wright.
“Chris came out to defend his son and was beaten in the head, and his head was repeatedly banged against the concrete causing significant brain damage,” the fundraiser said. “These men took the life of an incredible father and life partner. He left this Earth and those who loved him far too soon.
A candlelight vigil in Wright’s honor is scheduled for Friday.
Tracy Karopchinsky said the group attack was caught on the doorbell camera of a neighbor and the victim.
“I was at Shock Trauma, and initially my dad and I tried to go in front of the camera to watch, and the first video that pops up is of my 12-year-old son screaming, ‘Daddy, daddy, daddy ‘ and run out of the house to the street to go help her dad,” she told WBAL. “And I couldn’t look after that. I just couldn’t.
No arrests were made.
“Anyone who aided or was an accomplice to the prime suspect or prime suspect will be guilty,” Anne Arundel County police spokesman Marc Limansky told WBAL.
Wright is remembered as a devoted father, his fiancee’s best friend, a man who loved star gazing and had a gift for gardening.
“He was a friend to everyone,” Tracy Karopchinsky told local CBS affiliate WJZ. “I mean, just the outpouring that we’ve received from friends and just, they’re really, really going to miss someone with a really big heart. He loved beyond.
The couple had been together for several years.
“Chris wanted a big, beautiful church wedding with everyone there,” his fiancée told WJZ. “And I was the kind of person like, ‘Well, we’ve never been to Vegas.’ I thought we had time.
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