How Teen Dies After Being Beaten While Protecting Brother During Park Football Brawl
An American teenager has died after he was allegedly beaten during a brawl that broke out following a neighbourhood football match in Phoenix, Arizona.
Tumusifu Bazirake, 19, was playing soccer with his brother, Jeanpaul, against a group of strangers at Sueno Park at about 8 p.m. on August 6 when an argument reportedly escalated into a violent confrontation, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
Jeanpaul told WKYC that the opposing players became angry after losing the match and began pushing and attacking them.
He said he initially tried to defend himself after one of the players threw a punch, but several people then surrounded him.
According to Jeanpaul, Bazirake intervened to protect him after seeing him being attacked.
“After (an opposing player) threw a punch, I blocked it. Then they just jumped on me, all of them. Then that’s when my brother jumped in, too,” he recalled.
Jeanpaul said the fight lasted about 20 minutes and described the moment he saw his brother being repeatedly kicked and punched while lying on the ground.
“I tried to turn around, then he was on the ground, and they were just stepping on him while he’s on the ground. Stepping, kicking, punching — all that,” he said.
Police said the attackers fled the park after noticing that Bazirake was unresponsive.
Fire officials found him unconscious and transported him to a local hospital in extremely critical condition.
Bazirake succumbed to his injuries on August 13, prompting police to launch a homicide investigation. His remains were subsequently released to the Office of the Medical Examiner, with the cause of death pending an autopsy.
No arrests have been made, and police have not publicly identified any suspects or persons of interest in connection with the incident.
Bazirake’s family told WKYC that he was preparing to begin his first semester at a community college on August 24. He reportedly hoped to become a firefighter after completing his studies.
His mother, speaking through a translator, described him as a young man who loved school and valued his education, adding that he wanted to become a firefighter so he could “help people.”
