Man accused of helping daughter beat girl appears in court

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Houston father is in trouble with the law.

Darren Keith Patrick, 45, is accused of holding down a middle school student so his own daughter could allegedly hit her with her hand. This apparently occurred, according to police, on June 19 outside of Yates High School.

Family members say the two girls who were involved are apparently classmates in middle school. According to relatives, the girls were having a fight on the school bus that eventually spilled out at the bus stop near Yates High School.

At some point after the fight, Patrick apparently rolled up on a bicycle. According to police, he got off the bicycle and then allegedly held the girl down by a chain-link fence so his daughter could then allegedly hit her.

Patrick made an appearance in court Wednesday. He is currently being held at no bond. However, his common-law wife and the daughter in question were both at court during his appearance. Both the common-law wife Birdell Pruitt and the daughter told Eyewitness News that Patrick was actually trying to break up the fight between the two girls.

"He ain't gonna put his hand on no child. Anybody know him. He's, for anything, he gonna stop, you know try to stop everything," Pruitt said.

Eyewitness News also spoke with the mother of the other girl who was allegedly involved. She tells us that she understands sometimes classmates could get in a fight. She says she is not mad at the two young ladies involved. However, she does not believe an adult father should have laid hands on her daughter.

"That's children, children are going to fight and play and be friends the next day. I don't want nothing to happen to the little girl because of the fight," she said. "He should be in jail, he should be in jail, putting your hand on a minor. A grown person should never deal with a minor in that instance."