An Arizona teen was fatally beaten when a neighborhood soccer match erupted into a brawl, and he stepped in to protect his brother — just days before he was set to begin college.
Tumusifu Bazirake, 19, was playing soccer against a group of strangers at Sueno Park in Phoenix on Aug. 6 at around 8 p.m. when several suspects attacked him after the game, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
His brother, Jeanpaul, who was playing alongside him, said the opposing players launched their attack when they grew angry over losing the match.
“Then (they were) beating us, pushing us, cause we scored on them, and they got mad and all that,” Jeanpaul told WKYC.
Jeanpaul recalled that his brother tried to shield him as they were both overwhelmed by the opposing players during the fight, which lasted around 20 minutes.
“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 said.
Jeanpaul recalled the horror of seeing his brother defenseless and being mercilessly beaten during the attack.
“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 told the outlet.
Bazirake’s attackers then fled the park — about 10 miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport — when they noticed he was unresponsive, the Phoenix Police Department said.
Fire officials found Bazirake unconscious and rushed him to a local hospital in “extremely critical condition,” the Phoenix Police Department said.
Bazirake died from his injuries on Aug. 13, prompting authorities to open a homicide investigation.
His remains were turned over to the Office of the Medical Examiner, with cause of death pending an autopsy, police said.
No arrests have been made and no suspects or persons of interest have been publicly identified by police.
Bazirake’s heartbroken family told WKYC he was supposed to start his first semester at community college on August 24 — with dreams of becoming a firefighter after graduation.
His mother, speaking to the outlet through a translator, said her son adored school, valued his education and wanted to become a firefighter to “help people.”
A GoFundMe was set up to help his family with funeral expenses so that he can be “laid to rest with dignity, love, and respect.”
“Losing a child is a sorrow no parent should ever have to face, and this moment has brought deep grief and many difficult decisions all at once,” the page read.
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