Teen Dead After Baseball Bat Attack

MOUNT VERNON, Va. - UPDATE:

Police say autopsy results show the teenager killed Friday evening in a brutal beating in an Alexandria area park died of blunt force trauma to the head.

He has been identified as 16-year-old Christian Perez of the Lorton area. Witnesses say Perez was struck in the head with a baseball bat next to the tennis courts in the Woodlawn Neighborhood Park at Manor Drive and Sky View Drive.

His family has not commented on the death, which police say was gang-related.

Area residents say there is little traffic through the park during the day, but they say they have called the police in the past to check on drug activity after dark. Police are looking for suspects in the murder and say they have leads that they hope will let them catch the bad guys quickly.

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A Fairfax county teenager is dead after an attack at a neighborhood park Friday afternoon.

It happened shortly after 4pm near the tennis courts at the Woodlawn Neighborhood Park in the Ingleside area of Mount Vernon.

Investigators have not identified the victim, but say he is under the age of 18.

A witness says the teenager was ambushed by two people. One of them hit him with a bat. The teenager died at the scene.

Willie Delrosario lives in the area. He says he talked to a witness.

"I ask him what happened, and he said, we just walking and these two guys just came and hit him with a baseball bat," Delrosario says.

Fairfax County investigators combed the area looking for suspects and clues.

Officer Bud Walker says, "At this time we have no suspect information, so we’re investigating a suspicious death. Some witnesses have come forward and they're being interviewed."

Police aren't saying what may have led to the attack, but residents believe it was gang related.

Some say there has been trouble in the area recently, and an increase in drug activity at the park. But the daytime violence is new.

Donovan Holloway says, "I know there's a lot of drug activity at night, but during the day I haven't heard anything about it."

Aubry Fitzgerald adds, "I've been living here for a quite a few years and I've never known nothing like that to happen."

Police are hoping witnesses and neighbors can help them piece together what happened. They've increased patrols in the area.