A third-degree murder charge has been reinstated against the bouncer who allegedly punched a man outside Tabu Lounge and Sports Bar two years ago, causing injuries that led to the club patron's death a week later, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said Thursday.
Kenneth Frye, 25, was a private security contractor for the Gayborhood bar when he escorted 41-year-old Eric Pope out on April 16, 2022. Pope had been kicked out for being intoxicated, investigators said.
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Outside the club on 12th Street, between Locust and Spruce streets, surveillance video showed Pope dancing by himself just before 1 a.m. Moments later, Frye allegedly approached Pope from the sidewalk and knocked him out with a punch to the head. Pope remained unconscious on the ground for a minute before bouncers moved him to the sidewalk. A crowd of people then gathered around Pope before medics arrived.
Pope was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and remained in a coma on life support for a week before he died. His cause of death was ruled blunt force trauma, the DA's office said.
Frye initially was charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, offenses that the DA's office argued were warranted because Pope was punched without provocation. Frye had been ordered to stand trial until Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian H. Ransom dismissed the third-degree murder charge in December 2022, leaving only the misdemeanor charge of involuntary manslaughter.
District Attorney Larry Krasner appealed the court's decision, sending the case to Pennsylvania Superior Court for the charges to be reviewed. The judicial panel reversed the lower court's decision on July 15, noting that Frye's much bigger physique is an important factor in the case.
"(G)iven the size disparity, the lack of provocation, (and) Frye’s knowledge that the Victim was intoxicated and defenseless, we conclude the evidence, when viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, establishes a prime facie case of Frye’s malice, that is, his conscious disregard for an unjustified and extremely high risk that his actions might cause death or serious bodily harm," the panel wrote.
Pope, a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was remembered by family and friends as an active member of his community. He had been a New Bedford School Committee member and later moved to Washington, D.C., where he did work for the Obama administration and the city health department. At the time of his death, Pope was living in Philadelphia's Sharswood neighborhood and was employed by the Federal Reserve System.
In February, Pope's parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Tabu, Frye and Mainline Private Security, the company that provided the bar's bouncers. The lawsuit states Pope struck his head on the ground after he was punched and that it took Tabu personnel 11 minutes to call 911.
Krasner said his office will resume prosecuting the case with the third-degree murder charge in advance of a trial. His office informed Pope's family about the court's decision.
"Cases like this are heartbreaking, but I'm pleased that the Superior Court's ruling reflects the potential severity of such assaults," said Kelly Burkhardt, a victim witness coordinator and LGBTQ+ liaison for the DA's office.