BOSTON (WHDH) - The mother of a man who was the victim of a brutal attack in Boston’s South End over the weekend says savage beating left her son “minutes away from death.”
“They had minutes to do the surgery or he would’ve died,” said Deborah Smith, whose 22-year-old son, Chris, was rushed into immediate brain surgery after police officers found him semi-conscious on Harrison Avenue about 2:45 a.m. on Saturday.
In the hopes of tracking down the three men who witnesses said repeatedly punched Smith and slammed him to the ground, Boston police officials released surveillance images Wednesday of four people they’re looking to identify as part of their investigation.
And now that Smith is back home with dozens of staples in his head, Deborah Smith says she’s looking for answers.
Her son, she said, was out having a drink with some friends.
“He’s 22. What’s a 22 going to do on a Friday day night but go out, which is not unusual for him,” she said. “He’s a good kid. He likes to go out with his friends. It was just a simple night out with a couple of his friends, and it turned out it almost cost him his life.”
Although investigators aren’t calling the two men and two women in the surveillance images suspects, Deborah Smith said her son immediately remembered encountering them.
“Oh, he recognizes them as all being there at the scene,” she said, adding that detectives told her it was clear Chris wasn’t picking a fight.
“They did come and tell me on Saturday they could see from what surveillance they have, it was in no way Chris’ fault, and I agreed because he’s a good kid and I knew he wouldn’t be the instigator of this,” she said.
Business owners on Harrison Street say detectives spent all week trying to find good surveillance video, and it appears they have, hoping the four clear photos released Wednesday will lead to arrests. Tips are already coming in.
Deborah Smith said, “I’ve received a couple of names, passed it along to police, and hopefully they can do their work and find these people and make them pay for what they did to Chris.”
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)