A grand jury has indicted a Cumberland County man on charges that he killed another father after a dispute involving their teenage children.
Eric D. Hannah, 55, of Vineland, is accused of killing Louis “Gus” Serbeck, 54, of Millville, during an April 20 brawl at Hannah’s residence.
Hannah’s 17-year-old son is also charged in the death.
The father and son struck Serbeck with a metal bat and a large flashlight after the victim went to their residence to confront the younger Hannah for allegedly assaulting his daughter a day earlier, police said.
Gus Serbeck’s obituary described him as a legend and stated that his death “is just one more myth that will define his legendary life.”
In his final act, Serbeck “laid his life down to do what he does best, to protect his family; to protect his baby girl,” his obit said.
Eric Hannah was originally charged with first-degree counts of murder and conspiracy to commit murder, second-degree aggravated assault and weapons offenses.
But the grand jury did not indict him on the murder charges.
Last week, the grand jury indicted Hannah on charges of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, second-degree conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, second-degree aggravated assault, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon.
Hannah’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the indictment.
Serbeck’s daughter was in “some kind of relationship” with Hannah’s son, Cumberland County Assistant Prosecutor Cathryn Wilson said during a May court hearing.
The daughter told her father about the assault, and Serbeck went with her to the Hannah home on Easter Sunday to speak to the family, investigators said.
Police said Serbeck and Eric Hannah were longtime friends.
The Serbecks were met at the door by the teen charged in the case.
“The juvenile defendant came out and immediately threw punches at the victim,” Wilson said. Hannah’s daughter recorded video of some of the incident.
The juvenile defendant “then retrieved some kind of bat which is seen on the cellphone video that was taken by the defendant’s daughter. And he was attacking the victim with the bat,” Wilson said.
The video also shows Serbeck holding the boy on the ground and the boy continuing to hit Serbeck with the bat, Wilson said.
Prosecutors said the teen suffered facial injuries in the incident.
Eric Hannah was seen on the video holding a large metal flashlight and Serbeck’s daughter told investigators Hannah hit her father in the head with it multiple times during the altercation, according to the prosecution and court documents.
The video doesn’t show Eric Hannah striking Serbeck with the flashlight, the prosecutor said.
However, a “noticeable mark” found on Serbeck’s head matches the imprint from the flashlight, Wilson said.
The teen charged in the case is also accused of striking Serbeck’s daughter in the head during the fight, according to prosecutors.
When the Serbecks tried to leave, the teen started hitting Serbeck’s car with a hammer, Wilson said.
At that point, Serbeck said he couldn’t breathe and collapsed, his daughter told investigators.
He died while being transported to a hospital.
Eric Hannah wasn’t involved in the fight and didn’t strike anyone, his attorney, William Popjoy, said during the May hearing. The father came outside after the incident was over and tried to defuse the situation, the attorney said.
Hannah remains jailed pending trial and is due back in court Sept. 8 for a post-indictment arraignment hearing.
Hannah’s son was charged with homicide and weapons offenses, along with an aggravated assault charge for allegedly striking Serbeck’s daughter. Prosecutors are weighing whether to try him as an adult.
At the time of the incident, the elder Hannah was already on pre-trial release in an unrelated case involving charges that he possessed methamphetamine and ghost guns, which are firearms without serial numbers.
Weapons recovered from his home in that case included two shotguns and a rifle, according to court documents. He was also charged with possession of a large-capacity ammunition magazine. Hannah was indicted on five counts in that case and entered a not guilty plea to the charges.
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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
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