Sometimes, a physical or even a verbal altercation can escalate into a situation that has tragic results. That may be what happened in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 6, in New Britain, Connecticut.
According to police, they responded to a call from a resident of an apartment building around 6 a.m., reporting a commotion and then "a loud noise outside that sounded like something fell." They arrived to find a 66-year-old man with a serious heady injury lying in a driveway. He was pronounced dead soon after.
A tenant on the building's second floor said that he had heard banging on a door on the floor above him earlier in the morning. The victim reportedly fell from a third-floor window.
Two men allegedly were witnessed standing over the body of the man who fell to his death. One of those men was reportedly fighting with the victim earlier. Several hours later, police located the suspect, a 23-year-old man. They say that he denied pushing the victim. However, they claim that when they questioned him about a witness statement, he "became enraged and slapped the statement" from the police officer's hand.
They also say that after they took him into custody, the man punched a hole in the police interview room wall. Therefore, in addition to facing a manslaughter charge, he is also facing a third-degree criminal mischief charge. The case is still under investigation.
Manslaughter charges can have lifelong ramifications. Anyone facing these charges needs experienced legal guidance. There may be circumstances behind the incident that could help mitigate the legal penalties when properly presented in court.
Source: Hartford Courant, "Man Falls From 3rd-Floor Window During Fight," Christine Dempsey and Kelly Glista, June 08, 2015