16-year-old NY boy gets fatally stabbed in fight, bystanders take videos of him dying instead of helping
OCEANSIDE, NEW YORK: A teenager died after he was brutally stabbed in a fight that erupted outside a strip mall over a girl, with several bystanders idly looking on and even recording the death instead of calling for help.
Khaseen Morris, a 16-year-old student of Oceanside High School in Nassau County, New York, was targeted by a group of seven teens outside a strip mall after school was dismissed on Monday, September 16, after he was seen walking another boy's girlfriend to her home.
During the subsequent scuffle, Morris was stabbed once in the chest, with other teens on the scene whipping out their phones and recording the confrontation on social media as he lay dying. Morris was eventually rushed to the hospital, but could not be saved.
One of Morris' friends, a 17-year-old, suffered a broken arm and swelling on his head during the brawl and was also hospitalized. Others sustained minor injuries.
Speaking about the incident at a press conference in front of the same strip mall on Tuesday, Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick of the Nassau County Police Department said that the fight was "prearranged" and was over a "girl and a perception of who she might be dating and who she might be hanging with at this time".
He said Morris had been charged at by "a group of six to seven males" and that there were as many as 50 and 70 other kids there at the time, most of whom did nothing as the fatal stabbing unfolded.
"Kids stood here and didn't help Khaseen," he said. "They would rather video this event. They videoed his death instead of helping him. This can't go on. Your friends are dying while you stand there and video it. That's egregious."
He said there were several who had come forward to his department with information but he wanted to talk to eyewitnesses who had videotaped the brawl.
Police arrested 18-year-old Tyler Flach in connection to the stabbing on Wednesday, September 18. He was charged with second-degree murder and is scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday, September 19.
Donna M. Kraus, a school district spokesperson, offered her condolences and said there would be counselors available to those who needed it."The community is shocked and saddened by this tragedy," she said. "We have counselors supporting our students and we’ve reached out to Khaseen's family."