BOSTON -- A North Andover woman says her husband was beaten to death after he was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint on Thanksgiving.

"It was tragic. I get a phone call that he got arrested. The next thing I know I'm in the hospital, and the police officer is saying, 'Your husband didn’t make it.' I said, 'What do you mean?'" said Margaret Howe.

Kenneth Howe's family can't understand how he could have died going through a police sobriety check point when he wasn't even driving.

In pictures of the 45-year-old's body, marks that appear to be shoe print on his torso can be seen, NewsCenter 5's Cheryl Fiandaca said.

"These police officers that beat this man to death are cowards. They are cowards. And they are animals," attorney Frances King said.

State police say Howe assaulted a female trooper who called for help. The family refutes that account.

"Even if it happened, there's no need to attack a human being and beat him to death," Margaret Howe said.

Howe's family admitted he wasn't wearing a seat belt and was trying to put out a marijuana cigarette when the car he was riding in approached a State Police, North Andover police and Essex County sheriff sobriety check point on Route 114 on Nov. 26.

"Whatever was in the car, what ever happened you arrest someone and you take them to the station, they are booked. Mr. Howe should not be dead," King said.

"It's just sad. My kids don't have a daddy," said Margaret Howe.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Essex County District Attorney said the investigation into Howe's death is ongoing, dozens of witnesses have been interviewed and autopsy results are still pending.

The district attorney would not confirm nor deny that a grand jury is hearing evidence.

So far, no police officers or troopers have been suspended or disciplined as a result of the incident.

The family plans to file a federal lawsuit.