No arrest year after NYC man fatally beaten outside home reportedly in parking dispute with neighbor
Christopher Hightower's neighbor claims self-defense, says daughter was inside when drunken man showed up outside Jamaica, Queens, home
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}No arrest has been made nearly a year after a New York City man was found lying in the street fatally beaten to death reportedly over a parking dispute.
Christopher Hightower, 58, of Queens, N.Y., was found at approximately 10:40 a.m. May 22, 2022, outside his home in the Jamaica neighborhood.
An NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital officers responded to a 911 call of an aided, intoxicated male at 109-32 176 Street in the 103rd Precinct.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}EMS responded to the location and transported the 58-year-old man to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
"Further investigation and findings by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the male sustained blunt force trauma to the head and torso. The incident has been deemed a homicide. There are no arrests, and the investigation remains ongoing," the NYPD spokesperson added Wednesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Christopher Hightower was beaten to death outside his home in Jamaica, Queens, nearly a year ago, but no arrest has been made. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
In speaking to the New York Daily News this week, Hightower's family reportedly said the man met his demise at the hands of an "an angry neighbor with a violent streak."
According to the newspaper, NYPD detectives determined Hightower, who was intoxicated at the time, was beaten during a fight with a neighbor over a parking space. Though no arrest has been made, sources told the Daily News investigators have identified a suspect and are working with the Queens District Attorney’s Office on potential charges.
"No matter what we went through, God would always have him land on his feet," his ex-wife Monique Hightower told the paper. "He was a good provider. He worked and made sure that bills were paid, that the mortgage was paid. He gave to my children, all of his children. He wasn’t selfish with his kids in that way, with money. He had really made peace, and it was important for him, and he would call people and make sure they were doing OK.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}NYC CRIME VICTIMS FIRE BACK AT DEMS WHO ACCUSED THEM OF BEING ‘MAGA PROPS’ AT HEARING
NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig during an unrelated press conference. The New York Daily News reported that detectives determined Christopher Hightower was fatally beaten during a parking dispute with a neighbor. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
"He would say his ‘sorries’ and make amends. He became a man of God. That’s how I knew that he had grown," she added.
The newspaper also spoke to the neighbor with whom Hightower got into a physical altercation that day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Self-defense," the neighbor told Daily News. "I’m not worried about the situation at all. I did nothing wrong. I’m sorry for his family and his ex-wife. I wish them the best."
The neighbor claimed Hightower showed up outside his property drunk.
"My daughter’s room is right there," he said, pointing to the front of his home. "My first instinct is to protect my family. My kids then were 11 and 12. It’s not like I beat him up and threw him on the street. I made sure he didn’t go any farther on the property and called the police. And then the police came and brought him back. I didn’t know who this was."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Queens DA Melinda Katz's office is reportedly weighing charges in the death of Christopher Hightower. (Barry Williams for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
Hightower's aunt, Lucille McMillon, rejected that account of events. "He's lying," she said.
A father of two boys and four girls, Hightower worked for Amazon and UPS in the years before he died, family said.
Hightower's family also reportedly admitted he had past issues with drugs and alcohol. He and his ex-wife got married twice before ultimately calling it quits.
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"We were married twice," she said. "Probably because of drug and alcohol issues. And in the Bible I read, marriage is forever. I really couldn’t let that go.
"He still had my heart, so we married again, and unfortunately divorced again. I never married again and neither did he. We had been down that road and back again. It was a colorful and eventful life," Monique Hightower said. "At the very end, I loved him, and I knew that he loved me. He had said things to me that I waited a lifetime for him to say to me. His own life history led him to that profession."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News Digital left a voicemail for the Queens District Attorney’s Office Wednesday but did not hear back before publication.