A Philadelphia man died after taking a punch to his face in a Saturday dispute with another dog walker at a dog park, police said.
Drew Justice, 38, had been walking his dog with his fiancée around 9 p.m. Saturday in South Philadelphia’s Gold Star Park when he told a fellow dog walker not to let his dog run around unleashed.
The other dog walker, who did not seem to take too kindly to Justice’s request, allegedly punched Justice in the face. The force of the blow sent Justice reeling backward, causing him to hit his head on solid ground.
Witnesses who heard the commotion called authorities and medics took Justice to a local hospital.
“I heard the screaming,” Justice’s neighbor, Julie Abruzzese, told NBC Philadelphia. “But it was already done. He was laying on the ground.”
Doctors at the hospital pronounced Justice dead at 9:15 p.m.
The Philadelphia medical examiner declared Justice’s death a homicide, determining that his cause of death was from a “blunt impact trauma injury to the head,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Abruzzese said Justice was set to wed his fiancée soon.
Police charged Michael Oropeza with involuntary manslaughter and other charges in connection with the incident after he turned himself in to authorities on Thursday morning, WTXF reported.
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