Man dies defending daughter during alleged hate crime

A Chicago man was killed Wednesday while protecting his only daughter during an alleged hate crime.

Fifty-nine-year-old Michael Tingling was walking his 15-year-old daughter, Masharah, home from school around 2 p.m. when he noticed Joseph Firek, 59, making inappropriate gestures towards her, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Firek approached the girl, Tingling stepped in and a fight ensued.

“He was staring at me up and down, eyeballing me,” Masharah said to NBC Chicago. “My dad, being a father, he got protective and put me behind him and told the guy to go away.”

During the altercation, Firek allegedly punched Tingling, who has a pacemaker, in the chest, causing him to go into cardiac arrest, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Firek allegedly used racial slurs while hitting Masharah’s father.

Tingling was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

“My dad can’t see me go to eighth grade graduation,” the eighth grader told NBC Chicago. “That’s all he wanted to do was see me graduate.”

Tinglings death has been ruled a homicide, and Firek has been charged with first-degree murder and a hate crime.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals.