NJ dad beaten to death in front of teen daughter after confronting family friend over his son’s alleged assault of her
A bodybuilding New Jersey granddad was beaten to death with a metal baseball bat while trying to confront a teenage boy for assaulting his daughter, according to authorities.
Louis “Gus” Serbeck, 54, and his 19-year-old daughter, Brooke Serbeck, stormed around to the 17-year-old boy’s Vineland home on Easter Sunday to speak to him and his dad about an alleged assault there the day before, the .
The teen and his dad, Eric Hannah — “lifelong” friends of the Serbecks — met the enraged bodybuilder at the door and started fighting, the statement said.
The boy, only identified as J.H., allegedly “struck Serbeck in the head several times with a metal baseball bat,” prosecutors said.
His dad, Hannah, 55, then allegedly grabbed a metal flashlight and bashed his pal in the back of the skull, according to officials.
Brooke, who watched her father be ganged up on and beaten, was also “struck in the head” by the teen she accused of attacking her the previous day, prosecutors alleged.
When cops arrived, they found Serbeck in critical condition. The dad of two, who also has two grandchildren, died on the way to the hospital.
“He literally laid his life down for his daughter,” Serbeck’s grieving brother, Christopher Serbeck, while fighting back tears.
The teen and his dad were arrested and charged with homicide and weapons offenses. J.H. is also facing an additional charge of aggravated assault for allegedly striking Serbeck’s daughter.
Hannah was booked into the Cumberland County Jail while his son was taken to a juvenile facility. Prosecutors are still determining whether JH will be charged as an adult.
Serbeck’s brother, Christopher , said the devoted dad is remembered for his kindness and being willing to do “anything for anyone.”
“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 told 6 ABC Action News.
Christopher told the outlet that the two families were “lifelong” friends.
“He went to school with my oldest brother. Known him our whole life,” the grieving brother said. “No expectations of something like this happening at all.”
Serbeck is also remembered as a devoted father and “fierce protector” of his two daughters, Summer and Brooke, according to an .
“Summer and Brooke brought out a tender, loving, compassionate side of Gus that many people never saw before,” his obituary reads. “He was never happier than when he had one of his daughters in his arms sharing a big smiling cheek-to-cheek hug.”
The beloved father of two was also a grandfather to two boys from his daughter Summer, and “would be anywhere, Home Depot, Walmart, the flea market, and he’d see something he had to buy for his grandsons. He enjoyed nothing more than spoiling those boys.”
In recent years, Serbeck had grown close to his daughter Brooke, and the two were “always together, doing something fun and goofy.”
“He’d call off of work to take her to get her hair or nails done, or to take her shopping because she wanted the newest sneaker. Gus was the epitome of a protecting, providing father,” the post read.
He was also adored for being crafty and “tinkering around his garage and building something out of nothing.”
“He loved building, he was an efficient carpenter and roofer, who possessed vast knowledge of the building trades that he wasn’t afraid to share with anyone willing to listen and learn,” according to his obituary.
Serbeck is remembered by his father, Louis; his two daughters and two grandchildren; his brothers, Rich and Chris; his former wife, Joy, and “numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.”
