4 beat random stranger to death

Associated Press

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga.

It began with a brawl outside a house party. A woman hit a man, and the man refused to strike back, saying he wouldn’t hit a girl. Instead, he vowed to attack the next male who walked by, even if that person was a random stranger.

That’s when 18-year-old Bobby Tillman happened to approach a group of four partygoers. Authorities said they stomped, kicked and punched him to death while dozens of bystanders watched.

“He had nothing to do with anything,” said Maj. Tommy Wheeler of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department. “They just decided he’s the one. And they killed him.”

The party Saturday night was supposed to be a small gathering of about 10 friends of a high school girl who lived in this middle-class suburb west of Atlanta. It soon grew to an unruly crowd of about 80 people after word spread by e-mail and text message.

A fight broke out between two females and two males, and one of the females hit a male, Wheeler said.

Then, in a case of twisted chivalry, the man vowed to beat up the next man who passed by, investigators said.

Tillman, who apparently had come for the party but attended a different high school than most of the other young people, unwittingly became the target.

Four people were arrested.