Friends of US college graduate beaten to death in Greece say he was a 'peacemaker'

Friends of the American tourist beaten to death on Friday after a fight erupted at a bar on an island in Greece are saying that he was a "peacemaker," and not the type of person to get into fights.

Bakari Henderson, a 22-year-old recent graduate of the University of Arizona, was at a bar on the Greek island of Zakynthos when a fight broke out with another group of people on Friday around 3 a.m. local time, according to police there. At least eight people have been arrested in connection with his killing, according to local police.

The fight escalated into a brawl and Henderson was battered to death in the street, police said.

His friend Travis Jenkins said this is uncharacteristic of Henderson.

"Bakari was not one to act aggressively like that," Jenkins told ABC News. "He was always the one who was the peacemaker."

The coroner told ABC News that Henderson suffered severe head injuries in the incident. All the strikes were to the head, and it appears and there were no defensive wounds on Henderson's body, the coroner added.

Henderson's body will be flown to Athens and then to the U.S. within two days. A toxicology report will be released in several weeks.

Pavlos Kolokotsas, the mayor of Zakynthos, told ABC News that both groups involved had been drinking extensively.

The investigation into the incident and Henderson’s death is ongoing. An autopsy has been carried out on Henderson, and results are expected early this week.
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Police told ABC News that a British citizen of Serbian origin, who is temporarily employed in Greece as a bouncer, and a Greek national, who works at the bar in Zakynthos, were arrested Friday and named suspects in the beating death. Six Serbian tourists were also arrested after being identified on surveillance footage as having taken part in the brawl, police said.

The eight arrested so far appeared in court on Saturday night and pleaded not guilty, according to police.

A lawyer for one of the eight suspects said that his client has no criminal record. He said he caused some bodily harm, but didn’t have homicidal intent, and didn’t hit Henderson in the head. He said his client is "devastated, literally devastated."

"He did not hit (the victim) on the head, and death was caused by traumatic head injury," he said. "I am convinced that it will be proven that he was not the one who caused the death of the unfortunate American."