updates
succumbed to brain injuries
Berlin youth footballer dies after being hit on the head
05/31/2023 2:52 p.m
Violence erupts at a youth soccer tournament, at the end of which a youth is hit so badly in the head that he is later declared brain dead. Now the 15-year-old Berliner has died. A 16-year-old is being held in custody. The details of the crime clearly contradict his first statements.
Three days after a young man suffered a life-threatening injury in a brawl at a youth football tournament in Frankfurt am Main, the 15-year-old from a Berlin team succumbed to his severe brain injuries. In the coming days, an autopsy should clarify the exact cause of death, said the police in the Hessian metropolis. How the brawl came about and how it happened is still being determined.
The victim suffered “severe life-threatening head injuries” from blows to the head and neck. The teenager was declared brain dead on Tuesday. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the machines that then took care of him initially remained switched on for the removal of donor organs. In the course of Wednesday, however, these were turned off.
In the meantime, details of the crime have also become known: As the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” reported, citing the district court, the accused, who comes from France, are said to have initially attacked another opponent and hit him in the face with both fists. He then put the 15-year-old in a headlock and hit him in the stomach. He was initially able to free himself and walk away. The accused ran after him and hit him hard on the head from behind. When the teenager collapsed, he left. The public prosecutor’s office confirmed the process.
“Will go to assault resulting in death”
FC Metz, in whose youth program the alleged perpetrator plays, wrote in a statement on Tuesday that the youth denied “that he intentionally caused physical harm to the injured young player.” His client, as he himself explained to him, acted in self-defense and only gave the 15-year-old “a slap in the face,” said the suspect’s lawyer.
The crime happened on Pentecost Sunday after the final whistle of an international game in the Eckenheim district of Frankfurt, in which the French and the U17 boys’ teams of the youth football club (JFC) Berlin competed against each other. Arrest warrants have been issued for the 16-year-old suspect. He is in custody. “The arrest warrant has so far assumed dangerous and serious bodily harm,” said spokeswoman Niesen. “Since the injured party is now brain dead, it will now be about the allegation of bodily harm resulting in death.”
The police are still looking for witnesses. Videos and photos can be sent to the police online or uploaded to a special page. The evaluation is not yet complete, said a spokesman for the Frankfurt police headquarters.