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Unprovoked beating leaves star athlete critically hurt, police say

Chris Kernich.

Adrian A. Barker

ENLARGE PHOTO

Ronald G. Kelly

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Lou Grieco and Steve Bennish
Staff Writers Updated 5:23 PM Thursday, November 19, 2009

AKRON — A former star athlete at Fairborn High School, now a Kent State University student, remained in critical condition Tuesday, Nov. 17, at an Akron hospital two days after he was severely beaten in what police called an unprovoked assault.

Chris Kernich, a 2005 graduate who played football and baseball for the Skyhawks, is in the intensive care unit at Akron City Hospital.

He turned 23 on Nov. 12 and planned to celebrate his birthday by going to the Steelers-Bengals game in Pittsburgh on Sunday, according to his postings on Twitter.

According to Kent police, he never made it to the game. He was beaten about 2:20 a.m.

Kernich, suffering from apparent head injuries, was on the ground and unconscious when emergency workers arrived on a report of an assault in progress, police said.

Though police said that three people were suspects, a report listed only two men who have been arrested: Ronald Gene Kelley, 20, and Adrian Alexander Barker, 21. Both are from Akron.

The three were in a car that was pulling out of a parking lot when it nearly struck a group of people walking on a sidewalk. Kernich was in the group of pedestrians, police said.

The suspects’ car continued down the street until the driver parked it in a driveway. As Kernich’s group walked by, the suspects confronted Kernich’s group and assaulted three of them.

The two arrested suspects have been charged with felonious assault, a second-degree felony punishable by up to eight years in prison. Barker is also charged with a misdemeanor count of obstructing official business.

Kelly and Barker remained in the Portage County Jail on Tuesday in lieu of $75,000 bond.

Kent police said the investigation is continuing and additional charges may be filed.

A 6-foot-3, 185-pound senior, Kernich was a three-sport athlete at Fairborn High School, playing football, baseball and basketball.

Fairborn Mayor elect Joan Dautel, the high school’s former athletic director, said Kernich was a stand-out.

“I remember him more from baseball than anything else,” she said. “He was a pitcher for us. He was an intense kid, a good student. This just boggles me that someone would assault him like that. He was not the type of kid who would have brought anything like that on. It’s tough to hear.”

Kernich’s extensive sports skills were very unusual, she added. “Three-sport athletes are few and far between. He was just a good kid, he was real determined. I’m really shocked.”

Tom Kirsch, senior class adviser at Fairborn High, said, “Chris was a very outgoing young man who was very involved with athletics and his class in general. Our hearts and prayers go out to him and his family.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Kent detective bureau, (330) 673-7732.

> If you are on Facebook, share your support and thoughts on the Christopher Kernich--We Are Behind You♥ group

Contact Lou Grieco at (937) 225-2057 or lgrieco@DaytonDailyNews.com. Contact Steve Bennish at (937) 225-7407 or sbennish@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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