Utah soccer referee punched by teen dies, police say

[Jazzy]

A 46-year-old soccer referee who was punched by a teenage player during a game and later slipped into a coma has died, police said.

Ricardo Portillo of Salt Lake City passed away at the hospital, where he was being treated following the assault last weekend, Unified police spokesman Justin Hoyal said Saturday night.

Police have accused a 17-year-old player in a recreational soccer league of punching Portillo after the man called a foul on him and issued him a yellow card.

"The suspect was close to Portillo and punched him once in the face as a result of the call," Hoyal said in a press release.

The teen, whose name hasn't been released because of his age, has been booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of aggravated assault.

Portillo suffered swelling in his brain and had been listed in critical condition, Dr. Shawn Smith said Thursday at the Intermountain Medical Center in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray.

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Aggravated assault? I think not. He should face manslaughter charges now. Funny how they don't release the name of the teen. If he's old enough to kill a person with a punch to the head, then he's old enough to have his name published as well.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I think if you are going to get violent towards another person, you should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He got himself into this situation and now he needs to pay!