Post date: May 06, 2013 2:19:52 PM
The family and friends of the Utah soccer referee who died a week after an attack from a teen player hold an emotional vigil.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, UNITED STATES (MAY 5, 2013) (NBC) - The family and friends of the Utah soccer coach who died a week after an attack by a teen player held a vigil in his honor Sunday (May 5).
Forty-six year old Ricardo Portillo died Saturday (May 4) from injuries sustained to the head when he was punched in the face by a 17 year-old player. The teen struck Portillo after the coach penalized him during a soccer game in a Salt Lake Citysuburb on April 27.At Sunday's vigil, Portillo's daughter, Johana Portillo, recalled her father's last moments at an area hospital.
"He saw me and he started crying and he said, 'no' and then they pulled me out of the room because he started going into shock. That's the last time I saw him conscious," Portillo said.
The teenaged player, whose name was withheld because he is a juvenile, was arrested two days after the incident and booked on a charge of aggravated assault, police said.
He is being held at a juvenile detention center and faces formal charges this week, when additional charges will be weighed in connection with the referee's death, police said.