The father was later pronounced dead at an area hospital, and the man who attacked him was arrested shortly thereafter and charged with murder and hate crime.
CHICAGO — A retired boxer from Belize who died after a Rogers Park street scuffle Wednesday had been trying to protect his daughter, relatives and witnesses said.
Michael Tingling, 59, picked up 15-year-old Masharah Tingling from the Chicago Math and Science Academy, 7212 N. Clark. St., around 1 p.m. Wednesday.
The teen had a doctor’s appointment later that day, her mom said, and Tingling hoped to sneak in some father-daughter doughnut time beforehand. Masharah was his only child.
As the pair walked down the 7100 block of North Clark Street, a man in his 50s began eyeing Masharah. He started to approach the teen, but Tingling stepped in and told him to go away.
Instead, the man pushed Tingling, Masharah and police said.
“My dad — being a boxer and having the temperament that he has — he wasn’t going to just let that fly,” she said. “He pushed the guy back, and [the guy] punched him directly in his chest. My dad has a pacemaker in his chest.”
The two men started throwing punches, police said. Masharah remembers yelling, “‘Don’t touch my dad! Leave my dad alone!’”
After the fight broke up, Masharah and her father made their way into an alley. Tingling, who was having a hard time breathing, sat down in an auto repair shop.
As they waited for an ambulance, Tingling’s eyes stopped moving and his tongue began to roll, Masharah said. His pulse was faint.
READ MORE: DNAinfo.com
Article Courtesy of DNA Info Chicago
Picture Courtesy of the Tingling Family and DNA Info Chicago
Former Boxer Dies After Protecting His Daugher from Deranged Racist was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
