A Maryland man is behind bars facing numerous charges in connection with the death of a stepfather who was fatally injured while protecting his stepson during an altercation.
According to a statement released by the Anne Arundel County Police Department, police arrested Trevor Garrett Taylor, 26, on Tuesday and charged him with manslaughter, assault, affray, and disorderly conduct.
The arrest stems from an incident in Brooklyn Park in May, outside of a home in the 300 block of Arundel Road West.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, three teenagers and two adults reportedly confronted Christopher Michael Wright, 43, outside his home while looking for his fiancée’s 14-year-old son. The son had been involved in an altercation earlier that day with another teenager at Brooklyn Park Middle School.
“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,’” Wright’s fiancée, Tracy Karopchinsky told 11 News in May.
Following the attack, Wright was rushed to an area hospital where he passed away from a traumatic brain injury.
“Just looking at the damage that was done to him, that wasn’t just punching that did that,” Kaprochinsky added. “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.”
A neighbor’s security camera, along with Wright’s camera, recorded the incident as it unfolded.
“[I]t became clear to the Wright family that Trevor Taylor and his associates were not going to leave and were likely going to force their way into the house and force an assault against them,” police wrote in an arrest document, describing the attack as it unfolded.
According to the police, Wright punched Taylor in the face during the confrontation. Taylor then allegedly used a pin-down maneuver, causing Taylor to fall and hit his head on the pavement as a brawl broke out.
Taylor then landed four punches on the victim before fleeing the scene. Wright’s death was later ruled a homicide due to blunt force trauma.
“Adults from one side went to the child’s house on the other side, and that’s when this altercation started, first, verbally, and then obviously a physical altercation ensued between the adults later,” Anne Arundel County Police Lt. Jacklyn Davis told ABC 2 Baltimore.
“What detectives found was that the decedent, in this case, did throw the first physical punch in this altercation, so there was a lot of debate around the duty to retreat versus self-defense and everything that goes into a case that’s this involved.”
A district judge ordered Taylor to remain behind bars without bail at this time.
The story is developing. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Christopher Wright and family/Facebook]
