Mar 9, 2009 7:45 pm US/Eastern
Boy Dies In Fight With Father Of Name-Calling Teen
Victim Confronted Unruly Teens At Party Who Called A Girl 'Fat & Ugly'
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
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Sharif Abdallah, 17, died after getting involved in a fight with unrly teens at a Prospect Park party on March 8, 2009.
CBS
A 17-year-old Brooklyn high school senior collapsed and died from injuries suffered in a fight with a group of unruly teens at a party in Prospect Park early Sunday morning.
The victim, identified as Sharif Abdallah of Carroll Gardens, died just after midnight Sunday at New York Methodist Hospital.
Witnesses say the conflict began after the group of teens began calling a teenage girl at the party "fat and ugly." The victim and his friends confronted the teens and asked them to leave, and by all accounts the scuffle appeared to be over when the group of name-callers left.
However they returned soon after with someone's father.
"He was just saying, 'Oh you want to be a tough guy?'" said witness Richard Babone.
Babone said the father was a behemoth who came after him. "He hit me, he punched me twice in the face, tried pulling my sweater over my head and that's when, I guess, supposedly Sharif jumped in for me," he said.
Asked if Sharif was hit by the father as well, Babone answered: "That's what I heard, yeah."
"He hit Shariff in the chest," said Spencer Herman, another witness.
The aspiring graphic artist collapsed and began having convulsions. Friends say he had a heart murmur, but his family says that wasn't the case. Abdallah's uncle tells CBS 2 he was shocked to find out a teen's father was one of the aggressors.
"I don't know, it's unspeakable to me why a father would get involved in something like that," said Sharif's uncle Don Harrell.
His cousin, Faried Assad, said, he holds "the son and his father" responsible for the tragedy.
"I can't understand why a father would involve himself in a pugnacious way instead of finding out what happened," Sharif's father said.
At Xaverian High School, a memorial was held at Abdallah's locker where his artwork was on display.
"He was a fantastic artist, anything that he wanted to do and put his mind to it, it was done," said classmate Patrick Brady.
Kyle Kinzer, Sharif's friend, said: "It's one thing when someone 60 to 70 years old dies, but 17, life was just taken for no reason."
An 18-year-old man has been taken into custody in the teen's death. Police are investigating the role his father and others may have played in a fight.
An autopsy was conducted on Monday, but was ruled inconclusive pending further study. Police say the cause of death will help determine what charges will be filed.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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