Relatives say a 61-year-old man charged with manslaughter was only protecting his wife from a would-be rapist when he fatally beat a man with a tire iron in a Bronx apartment building Monday. Mamadou Diallo was outside when 43-year-old Earl Nash got inside the building around 10pm and began knocking on doors asking for water, neighbors tell PIX11. Nash nearly persuaded a young child to follow him into a stairwell, but the girl returned to her mother, one man says. He then knocked on the door of Diallo's apartment and pushed his way inside, according to police. "He started beating on my mother and my aunt, and they started fighting back," Diallo's son tells NBC New York. "He tried to rip their clothes off and he tried to sexually harass them."
The women reportedly fought Nash for 20 minutes before they were able to alert Diallo, who met Nash in a sixth-floor hallway. Police say he beat Nash, causing severe head and body injuries. Nash—who had some 20 prior arrests, according to police—was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died around 1:30am. Diallo was charged with manslaughter on Tuesday, but "any husband would do the same thing as what he did," his son tells CBS New York. "You see your wife being attacked and sexually harassed, you're going to beat on the person. You are not just going to sit there and let the person leave or whatever. So I don't think he's wrong." Diallo's 51-year-old wife is in a hospital recovering from injuries, including bruises to her forehead.
The women reportedly fought Nash for 20 minutes before they were able to alert Diallo, who met Nash in a sixth-floor hallway. Police say he beat Nash, causing severe head and body injuries. Nash—who had some 20 prior arrests, according to police—was taken to a hospital in critical condition and died around 1:30am. Diallo was charged with manslaughter on Tuesday, but "any husband would do the same thing as what he did," his son tells CBS New York. "You see your wife being attacked and sexually harassed, you're going to beat on the person. You are not just going to sit there and let the person leave or whatever. So I don't think he's wrong." Diallo's 51-year-old wife is in a hospital recovering from injuries, including bruises to her forehead.
