A Los Angeles-area youth counselor was beaten to death over the weekend while trying to break up a fight at a residence facility for troubled children, according to reports.
Authorities said the attack on 25-year-old David Mcknight-Hillman, an employee of Wayfinder Family Services, was carried out by seven youths, including five who were under the age of 18.
Four of the suspects have been arrested and booked into a jail for minors, while deputies with the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department continue to search for one remaining child, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Among those taken into custody were two 18-year-olds, identified as Nyler Mason and Keith Lewis, who were being held on suspicion of murder, the Times reported.
Police were called shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday to the nonprofit facility located in the Windsor Hills neighborhood of South Los Angeles, which provides residential care to youngsters placed by the city’s Department of Children and Family Services.
A brawl had broken out among the youths that turned on Mcknight-Hillman when he tried to intervene, Sheriff’s spokeswoman Joana Warren told the Times.
Authorities later arrived to find the man down, suffering from blunt-force trauma. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died, the Times reported.
Mcknight-Hillman’s job included overseeing the day-to-day care of the facility’s residents.
Authorities did not provide any other details and withheld the identities of the underage suspects.
