A Gwinnett County father died after he was open-hand slapped by a man at a child’s birthday party, police said.
Adrian Herrera, 31, remains in the Gwinnett County jail without bond on a voluntary manslaughter charge, according to jail records.
Authorities were called to the home in the 100 block of Pipeline Road about 3 a.m. Sunday and found Tomas Rodriguez lying on his back, unresponsive and not breathing, according to a police report.
Herrera told police Rodriguez, who was drunk at the time, had been harassing him all day Sunday.
Police say Herrera became upset because his son was present and had asked Rodriquez to stop. The two were at a child’s birthday party with nearly 70 people, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“The suspect stated the victim kept calling him (out his name) and that the suspect was not (expletive),” Gwinnett County police Officer T.M. Fischer wrote in the report.
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The final straw for Herrera, according to the report, was when Rodriguez grabbed him and called him a derogatory name.
Fed up, police say Herrera slapped him in the face.
Rodriguez, a father of three, collapsed and stopped breathing.
Herrera said he tried to provide CPR, but those at the party wouldn’t let him. Police gave Rodriguez CPR, but it was too late.
“It's so hard, it's so hard for me but I'm so sad for my little girl,” Rodriguez’s widow Ana Arriaga told Channel 2.
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