Yaphank Man, 20, Killed in Fla.
BY: By Oscar Corral - 09-24-1999
A Yaphank man attending the University of Florida was killed during a fight at a
party the night before the highly charged Florida-Tennessee football game. Brian Tew, 20,
a junior majoring in criminal justice and a reservist in the U.S. Marines, died of
injuries inflicted by four men, all of whom have been arrested and charged with
second-degree murder, sheriff's deputies said.
Police said Tew, a Longwood High School graduate, fell or was thrown down a
staircase during the fight and died of skull fractures about 7 a.m. Sunday at a
Gainesville hospital.
"It was completely stupid," said Tew's sister, Kelly Devries of
Dunnellon, Fla.
"There was absolutely no reason for it. These men attacked my brother
outside his own apartment. Alcohol definitely had a part in it." Alachua County
Sheriff Sgt. James Troiano said yesterday Tew's death occurred during one of the rowdiest
weekends in recent memory, in which another man, Wesley Ormsbee, 19, of High Springs,
Fla., was also killed in an alcohol-related incident at another Gainesville party. He had
been shoved against a railing and slammed his head.
"The issue is that people here are partying at other people's
expense," Troiano said. "We have serious problems with young people consuming
alcohol. They have to know that there are consequences." Troiano and Devries said
yesterday Tew and several friends were at a party at an upstairs neighbor's apartment on
Friday night in anticipation of the Florida-Tennessee football game. Early Saturday, eight
men from the nearby town of Live Oak showed up for another party in the building and
became involved in a verbal altercation with Tew, who was standing on the second-floor
balcony looking down. Four of the men went upstairs and started a fight with Tew and his
friends, Troiano said.
"That led to a physical altercation resulting in Brian Tew falling down the
stairs," Troiano said. "Once he was at the bottom of the stairs, Brian was
kicked by all four of the people that we arrested." Joshua Wells, 22, Thomas Anthony
Bartolotta, 24, Jason Kelley, 23, and Brian Kelley, 21, all of Live Oak, have been charged
with second-degree murder. No other information was available yesterday evening. Although
the suspects' families could not be reached yesterday, Wells' girlfriend, Heather
Wainwright, said yesterday from Wells' home in Live Oak that Tew kicked Wells first, then
they both tumbled down the stairs in the ensuing struggle.
"Either one of them could have gotten killed," Wainwright said.
"I think it's tragic."
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