Bouncer wanted on murder charge after fatal punch outside Center City bar surrenders
Kenneth Frye allegedly punched the victim, Eric Pope, outside the Tabu Bar and Lounge.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The bouncer who was wanted on a third-degree murder charge for punching a man outside of a Center City Philadelphia bar earlier this month, leading to his death, is now in custody.
Twenty-four-year-old Kenneth Frye surrendered to police around 2:20 p.m. Thursday.
Frye, of the 1800 block of Susquehanna Avenue, was being sought in the death of 41-year-old Eric Pope.
Police say Pope was escorted out of Tabu Bar and Lounge on April 16 for being intoxicated. That's when he was punched by Frye, investigators say.
Pope fell to the ground and died from his injuries, which included trauma to the brain, at the hospital days after the incident.
The events leading up to the punch are still under investigation.
Tabu says Frye was not an employee of the bar. Action News sources say he worked for a private security company.
SEE ALSO: Man dies after being punched by bouncer outside Center City bar
The community is demanding answers.
Activists from the LGBTQ community gathered outside the Tabu Bar and Lounge on Tuesday.
"He was murdered, and he was murdered by someone, a guard, who in my opinion was homophobic and had some major issues," said Asa Khalif, an LGBTQ community organizer.
Rico Conforti, a longtime friend of Pope, says he did not deserve to die this way.
"It's unbelievable. It's horrible," said Conforti.
In recent weeks, there have been other incidents at Center City bars involving the same security company, according to police reports obtained by Action News.
One incident was recorded on March 27 at 2:45 a.m. at Voyeur Nightclub.
"Security personnel for the club beat up complainant. The complainant sustained broken hyoid bone...," the police report read.
A second incident happened on April 3 around 1 a.m. at U Bar.
"Security guard...choked and slammed the complainant to the ground. The complainant sustained a head injury," the police report from the April 3 incident read.
On Wednesday night, a vigil was held for Pope at Kahn Park.
"It's tragic what happened, but he was a beautiful soul," said one of Pope's friends.
Natasha McGlinn said she worked with Pope at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C.
McGlinn says she left the nation's capital after losing her best friend to violence and came here to Philadelphia to do anti-violence work.
"It breaks my heart that this city took away someone that was so full of life, vivacious," said McGlinn.
