Left: TJ and Krisan Pizzitola (GoFundMe). Right: Drew Meneses, inset, (Maricopa County Jail) and Pattie’s First Avenue Bar, background (Google Maps).
In Arizona, law enforcement has apprehended five individuals in connection with a brawl outside a bar in Scottsdale that tragically resulted in the death of a man, who was mere weeks away from becoming a father.
Among those detained, 24-year-old Drew Meneses faces the gravest accusation—second-degree murder—in the death of Thomas John “TJ” Pizzitola. Meneses is alleged to have delivered a sucker punch from behind, a blow that proved fatal, following an altercation between the groups of both the suspect and the victim.
Additionally, Mark Whitford, aged 23, Tony Becker, 26, and Julius Husser, 27, are charged with aggravated assault. Krista Molina, also 27, faces charges of assault and disorderly conduct.
Details from a criminal complaint, as reported by Fox affiliate KSAZ, reveal that Pizzitola and his companions were ejected from Pattie’s First Avenue bar in Old Town Scottsdale shortly after 2 a.m. on October 11 for disruptive behavior. While waiting for their rideshare outside, a member of Pizzitola’s group allegedly collided with a woman from Meneses’ entourage, leading to a heated exchange.
The subsequent events were captured on cellphone footage.
Prosecutor Angela Andrews described the incident to a judge, noting, “The footage shows [Pizzitola] standing with his arms at his sides when [Meneses] approaches from behind and delivers a punch to the head. This single blow inflicted a brain injury so severe that the victim immediately lost consciousness and never regained it,” according to local NBC affiliate KPNC.
The suspects fled the scene but cops arrested them last week.
Meneses told the judge he didn’t mean for anything bad to happen.
“I just, it was a bad night. It was not supposed to happen like that at all and there was no malicious intent for that at all,” he reportedly said.
Pizzitola got married in July 2024 and he and his wife were expecting their first child.
“He wanted to be a dad more than anything. His biggest dream was to be a dad and a husband, and he had one of them,” Krisan Pizzitola told KPNC. “TJ never missed an OB-GYN appointment. He went to every single one, no matter how big, how small.”
Said his mother Gina Pizzitola: “It makes me angry because it truly was the one thing that he wanted and he was so excited about.”
Friends started a GoFundMe account for the victim’s wife and baby.
