A 13 year old boy remains in critical condition after he was badly beaten earlier this weekend. Sara Rabern with the South Dakota Attorney General's Office says the incident happened Friday in Roberts County in extreme Northeastern South Dakota. While Rabern did not confirm the exact location of the beating, residents of Sisseton say it happened in front of a house across from the city park. The beating victim's name has not been released. We're told three people are in custody, but the Attorney General's Office did not release how old those suspects are or whether they're male or female.

KSFY spoke to people who live in the Sisseton neighborhood where the beating apparently happened. Among them, Randy Richter, who says he tried to intervene. Randy says, "I just feel like I could have done something more, you know?" By any account, Randy Richter is a hulk of a man, but despite his six foot four inch frame, he says he felt powerless Friday night. Randy recalls, "There was a lot of blood. See that's the thing, I don't know if that scared me or what but there was a lot of blood and a lot of just kicking and hitting." Randy says he arrived home with his fiance just after 9:30 p.m. and noticed a commotion on the front step of a house down the street. He says, "I just saw a couple of kids hitting on another kid, and it was pretty brutal."

Randy's fiance called the police, while he chased after what he says appeared to be two young girls. Randy says, "I just couldn't let them get away. I just couldn't let them hide and not do anything like that. I may not have got here early enough for that boy but you know maybe justice will be done." The Department of Criminal Investigation won't identify the three suspects in custody, but Randy says he was able to help officers track them down a short time later. He says, "I think if I wouldn't have gotten there when I did, they would have never stopped. And that really hits me hard because this is one of the worst things I have ever seen."

And when it happens in the community you love, and appears to involve kids nearly the same age as your own, it's enough to bring a big man to his knees. Randy says, "I just don't feel like I did enough, you know, maybe I did, maybe I didn't. But to me it's heavy on my heart.  He's way too young."

Again, the Attorney General's Office is not releasing details about the suspects in custody. KSFY spoke to two other residents who say they witnessed the beating. Both thanked Randy Richter for stepping in.