Bouncer wanted on murder charge after fatal punch outside Center City bar surrenders

Twenty-four-year-old Kenneth Frye surrendered to police round 2:20 p.m. Thursday.

Frye, of the 1800 block of Susquehanna Avenue, was being sought within the loss of life of 41-year-old Eric Pope.

Police say Pope was escorted out of Tabu Bar and Lounge on April 16 for being intoxicated. That is when he was punched by Frye, investigators say.

Pope fell to the bottom and died from his accidents, which included trauma to the mind, on the hospital days after the incident.

The occasions main as much as the punch are nonetheless below investigation.

Tabu says Frye was not an worker of the bar. Motion Information sources say he labored for a non-public safety firm.

SEE ALSO: Man dies after being punched by bouncer exterior Middle Metropolis bar

The neighborhood is demanding solutions.

Activists from the LGBTQ neighborhood gathered exterior the Tabu Bar and Lounge on Tuesday.

“He was murdered, and he was murdered by somebody, a guard, who in my view was homophobic and had some main points,” mentioned Asa Khalif, an LGBTQ neighborhood organizer.

Rico Conforti, a longtime buddy of Pope, says he didn’t need to die this fashion.

“It is unbelievable. It is horrible,” mentioned Conforti.

In latest weeks, there have been different incidents at Middle Metropolis bars involving the identical safety firm, based on police reviews obtained by Motion Information.

One incident was recorded on March 27 at 2:45 a.m. at Voyeur Nightclub.

“Safety personnel for the membership beat up complainant. The complainant sustained damaged hyoid bone…,” the police report learn.

A second incident occurred on April 3 round 1 a.m. at U Bar.

“Safety guard…choked and slammed the complainant to the bottom. The complainant sustained a head damage,” the police report from the April 3 incident learn.

On Wednesday night time, a vigil was held for Pope at Kahn Park.

“It is tragic what occurred, however he was a good looking soul,” mentioned one among Pope’s pals.

Natasha McGlinn mentioned she labored with Pope on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C.

McGlinn says she left the nation’s capital after shedding her greatest buddy to violence and got here right here to Philadelphia to do anti-violence work.

“It breaks my coronary heart that this metropolis took away somebody that was so vigorous, vivacious,” mentioned McGlinn.