Crime & Safety

Newport Man in Coma after Saturday Assault

Police are investigating and no arrests have been made.

NEWPORT, RI—A Newport man is in a coma fighting for his life after being assaulted while walking with a friend in the city early on Saturday morning.

Newport police said the incident happened at around 1:38 a.m. on Bliss Road near Wilbur Avenue.

As a result of the assault, a 28-year-old man suffered serious head injuries, according to Newport Police Sgt. Corey A. Huck.

Find out what's happening in Newportfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

No arrests have been made and police are investigating the incident. Anyone with information is asked to cal Det. Lt. David Steuer at 401-845-5760 in the department’s detective division.

Family members identified the victim as Kyle Kettner. Kettner’s sister-in-law, Jodie Morinho, created a GoFundMe fundraiser to offset Kettner’s medical expenses as he fights for his life at the hospital.

Find out what's happening in Newportfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Morinho, on the GoFundMe page, said that Kettner suffered “severe head trauma” and has swelling and bleeding on the brain. He has been put in a medically-induced coma.

Kettner is the father of a little boy “he needs to worry about once he wakes up and gets better” and has no health insurance, Morinho said.

On Tuesday, the latest update from family members was that Kettner was showing signs of improvement and blinking his eyes.

A direct link to the GoFundMe is below:


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.