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Man gets probation for deadly Arrowhead beating

Posted at 4:57 PM, Jun 01, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-01 18:29:43-04

The man responsible for the death of a Chiefs fan outside Arrowhead Stadium in 2013 agreed to a plea deal on Wednesday, resulting in probation. 

Joshua Bradley pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter regarding the death of 30-year-old Kyle Van Winkle outside Arrowhead Stadium Dec. 1, 2013. For the plea, a Jackson County judge handed the 27-year-old a suspended seven-year prison sentence with five years probation. 

According to his attorney, the deal was Bradley's the best option.

"The injury that caused the death was an extremely rare type of injury. This was not a beat down," said attorney Pat Peters. 

Van Winkle died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck. Witnesses said Bradley was responsible. 

According to Peters, Bradley did not want to fight nor did he start the fight, but was simply responding to a boy's cry for help. 

The attorney said his client and several others rushed over to a vehicle in Lot A when a boy and his father shouted for help after finding Van Winkle in their car. Peters said when Van Winkle refused to leave the SUV, which he mistook as his own, a fight broke out. 

"Josh Bradley's introduced because no security is around and the little boy is saying, 'Help help,'" he said. 

Peters said there is still a need for more security at the stadium during games. 

"If you have that many people out in a parking lot drinking and partying, you might have a situation like this," he said. 

41 Action News spoke with the Van Winkle family on Wednesday. They declined to comment. 

Arrowhead Stadium also declined an interview as well. 

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Josh Helmuth can be reached at josh.helmuth@kshb.com

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