A 19-year-old Florida man is accused of killing his father following a fight about food, and he is being charged with manslaughter.
Police in Melbourne, which is roughly 70 miles southeast of Orlando, received a call on the evening of Sunday, January 19, regarding a father who was “unresponsive” following a disagreement with his son at his house, according to an arrest affidavit that was able to access.
Medics were initially called to the residence at approximately 10 p.m. local time, according to the affidavit, after Julien Welch-Beddoe and his father, Francis Welch, 45, was discovered to be “yellow/pale” and “unresponsive.”
According to the Melbourne Police Department, Welch-Beddoe reported to the on-scene medical staff that he and his father had a physical “altercation” that began as a “heated” argument about “food/eating.”
“Julien Welch-Beddoe stated he was making ‘a plate’ (of food), when Francis Welch got up from the couch and told him that he didn’t deserve to have it because he wasn’t working,” according to the declaration. “Julien Welch-Beddoe stated he made himself a plate anyway, and as he was walking away towards his bedroom, Francis Welch pushed him.”
Welch-Beddoe then put his father in a headlock and hit him twice or three times on the left side of his ribcage, according to the police report. Welch’s fiancée finally broke up the altercation between the two guys after they had fallen to the ground.
The police document went on to claim, “Julien Welch-Beddoe stated he released Francis Welch after a few seconds saying he was fine.”Five minutes or so after the altercation ended, [Welch-Beddoe] reported hearing [his father’s fiancée] yell, ‘This isn’t a joke!’ When [Welch-Beddoe] entered the living room, he discovered [Welch] lying on the couch with his head back and not responding.
Welch passed away on January 20 at around one in the morning after being transported by ambulance to a local hospital, according to police statements. Welch “sustained three broken ribs and a lacerated spleen that caused internal bleeding and his death,” according to the Brevard County Chief Medical Examiner. According to the affidavit, the injuries were caused by blunt impact injuries.
Through laboratory tests conducted at the hospital, investigators also found that Welch’s blood alcohol content at the time of his death was.391. Welch-Beddoe was sober when they got into the altercation, according to the police affidavit.
On February 6, the teenager entered a not guilty plea to charges of manslaughter.
$50,000 was set as his bond, with the stipulation that he not communicate with his father’s family. On March 25, he is scheduled to make his next court appearance.
