Saddleback student fights for life

In this morning’s OC Register: Saddleback student fights for life: Four arrested on suspicion of assault on football player:

Three days after receiving the early-morning phone call that every parent fears, Brett Malone is still in a state of disbelief over the beating that left his son Jamal fighting for his life, allegedly at the hands of two fellow Saddleback College students and two others.


Malone, 20, was in a coma and in critical condition at Mission Hospital on Wednesday night, his father said.



...Four people, including a minor, were arrested in connection with a Sunday fight at the Promenade Apartments on Marguerite Parkway, authorities said.


Police say the altercation took place after the four crashed an early-morning party in the area. Jamal Malone's apartment is at the Promenade, but family members don't believe the party was there. 


A fight broke out, possibly stemming from a previous dispute. During the melee Jamal Malone was punched, and he fell and hit his head on the pavement, said Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.


Police arrested Nigel Kawai, Wallace Rodrigues and Chad Duran, all 18, and an unidentified minor. All posted bond and were released Monday, according to the Sheriff’s Department's online blotter. They could not be reached for comment. 


The suspects face charges of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit great bodily harm, authorities said. If convicted, they face up to five years each in prison, Amormino said.


Jamal Malone, a sophomore at Saddleback, is a defensive back for the Gauchos. He had played at home Sept. 1 against Mt. San Jacinto College in a game his team won, 52-0. Malone had two tackles and broke up one pass. 


Duran played in that game as well, school sports officials said, but he has since left the team.


“It’s a very unfortunate situation,” said college athletic director Tony Lipold. “It’s really not a football issue; it’s a student issue.


“We’re worried about this kid coming out of it. We’re just praying for him,” he said. “This is a life-changing situation for all these kids. We’re just trying to give (Malone’s family) the support that we can in the most positive way we can.”


Mark McElroy, Saddleback head football coach, has spent a lot of time at the hospital with the family and said Jamal Malone is “a really fine young man.” 


He’s “a really solid team player willing to help the team in any way that he can,” McElroy said. “And he has a smile that will light up the room. He’s a strong young man with a strong spirit.”


The 2005 Tesoro High School graduate is in his first year of playing college football. He will be recognized during a moment of silence at Friday’s game....