A chaotic after-school fight in Oceanside, Long Island turned deadly in minutes — and what shocked investigators most wasn’t only the violence, but the crowd’s reaction.
On September 16, 2019, police say a massive brawl involving as many as 50 teenagers erupted around 3:45 p.m. outside a strip mall near Oceanside High School, in front of a bagel shop. Authorities believed the fight may have started over a girl.
In the middle of the melee, 16-year-old Khaseen Morris was stabbed in the chest and later died at the hospital. Another teen suffered a broken arm during the fighting, according to reports at the time.
“Kids stood here… and didn’t help”
Detectives described a scene packed with witnesses — but many weren’t trying to stop the violence. Instead, police said multiple teens recorded the attack on their phones and posted the footage online, even as Morris bled on the ground.
At a news conference, Nassau County homicide officials publicly urged anyone with video to come forward, stressing that the clips could be key evidence in identifying who did what.
For Morris’ family, that detail was almost impossible to understand — a teen dying in public while a crowd watched through their screens.
The suspect and the charges
Police arrested Tyler Flach, then 18 and from Lido Beach, accusing him of stabbing Morris. He was charged with murder and pleaded not guilty at his initial court appearance, where he was held without bail, according to ABC News and ABC7.
As the investigation expanded, authorities also announced additional arrests tied to the broader brawl, including allegations that multiple teens took part in the violence that day.
A case that didn’t end with the first arrest
The Oceanside stabbing didn’t fade quietly. Years later, the case returned to headlines again as prosecutors pushed it through trial — and in November 2022, CBS New York reported that Flach was found guilty.
Then in February 2023, Nassau County District Attorney officials said Flach was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of Khaseen Morris.
The bigger warning behind the tragedy
Beyond the courtroom outcome, this case became a brutal snapshot of how violence spreads in crowds — and how social media can distort what people do in real time. Police and educators urged parents to monitor online activity and pushed witnesses to “do the right thing” by sharing what they captured, not keeping it as content.
Khaseen Morris was 16. In a moment that should have ended with someone stepping in, too many people hit record instead.