A man and his daughter went to the home of the 17-year-old she said sexually assaulted her to talk to his father, only to be met with deadly violence from both the teen and his dad, according to authorities.
A teenaged boy and his father have been accused of beating another man to death in New Jersey who was attempting to stand up for his daughter after an alleged sexual assault.
Louis “Gus” Serbeck (above right), 54, and his daughter went to the home of Eric D. Hannah (above left), 55, and “J.H.”, 17, on Easter Sunday in an attempt to talk to Hannah after Serbeck’s daughter told him that “J.H.” had assaulted her at his home the day before, according to the Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office.
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It was “J.H.” who answered the door, according to the prosecutor’s press release, with the encounter eventually escalating into a “physical altercation.” He is also alleged to have “struck Serbeck in the head several times with a metal baseball bat.”
The teen also allegedly struck Serbeck’s daughter in the head during the fight, per the release. Hannah allegedly also became involved in the fight, striking Serbeck “in the back of the head with a metal flashlight.” “J.H” purportedly suffered facial injuries.
After the Vineland Police Department and emergency medical response arrived on the scene, according to prosecutors, Serbeck was transported to a local hospital and set to be life-flighted to another facility, but he died en route.
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Family & Victim Responses
Speaking with ABC affiliate WPV, Serbeck’s brother Christopher said, “He would do anything for anyone,” he said. “He would take the shirt off his back and give it to you, just cause you needed it. You call him, he’ll be there.”
He said that his brother died trying to protect his daughter. “He literally laid his life down for his daughter,” he told the outlet.
He also claim that Louis Serbeck and Eric Hannah had actually known one another for a long time, describing Hannah as a “lifelong friend of the family.”
“He went to school with my oldest brother. Known him our whole life,” Christopher said. “No expectations of something like this happening at all.”
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In a probable cause statement, Serbeck’s daughter also said that the two men were longtime friends, according to the Courier Post. She said her father “wanted to talk to [Hannah] and alleviate the incident from the day prior.”
She described “J.H.” as “extremely aggressive” when he answered the door, alleging that he immediately punched her father in the face.
When Serbeck backed away, according to his daughter, “J.H.” grabbed the baseball bat and used it to break a window on Serbeck’s vehicle. It was when Serbeck tried to stop him that “J.H.” allegedly turned the bat on him.
Police reported receiving cell phone video footage of some of the fight, according to New Jersey 101.5, which purportedly shows both Hannah and “J.H.” approaching Serbeck as he is leaning against a pickup truck in the yard.
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According to the outlet, the teen is holding what appears to be a hammer above his head in the footage, while his father is holding both the bat and flashlight.
After the violent brawl, detailed in the prosecutor’s press release, Serbeck and his daughter attempted to leave, per the probable cause statement, only for the man to collapse to the ground near his vehicle.
Eric Hannah and “J.H.” were both taken into custody on April 20 on homicide and weapons charge. “J.H.” is also facing an aggravated assault charge based on Serbeck’s daughter’s allegation.
Hannah was held in Cumberland County Jail and his son taken to a juvenile detention facility while a determination is made on whether or not he’ll be tried as an adult.
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