A mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter has been arrested in the US for allegedly killing a US airman with a single punch during a bar fight in Florida on Sunday, as per a report in Global News. Twenty-three year old Ross Johnson has been charged with manslaughter, according to a statement from the Panama City beach Police. The police identified Johnson as an amateur MMA fighter. The Air Force personnel who died has been identified as Dayvon Larry, who was 31, according to the outlet.
The police said the fight took place inside and outside the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Panama City Beach. They added that Larry was not a participant but may have known someone involved in the fight, according to the outlet.
Global News quoted the police a further saying that Johnson punched Larry once in the face in the parking lot. The security team of the bar broke up the fight and even tried to administer CPR to the airman but couldn't save him.
The police said Larry's cause of death was blunt force trauma.
"Witness accounts and surveillance footage revealed that Johnson had struck Larry with a closed fist behind his left ear, causing him to fall to the ground," police said in a statement.
Johnson fled the scene via a ride share service, they added.
New York Post said that Larry had been stationed at Panama City's Tyndall Air Force Base.
"Man I hit that guy," Johnson allegedly told a witness, the Post quoted the police as saying. "I laid him out, and I think I killed him."
An autopsy revealed Larry suffered a "3-inch skull fracture" and a bruise the size of a "softball" behind his ear, the outlet further said.
