Box Turtle Bulletin

José Sucuzhañay’s Killer: “So I Killed Someone — That Makes Me A Bad Guy?”

Keith Phoenix (right) being led out of the 83rd precinct in Brooklyn (DeCrescenzo / NY Daily News)

That’s what murder suspect Keith Phoenix, 28, said when he confessed to the hate-crime murder of José Sucuzhañay:

“So I killed someone — that makes me a bad guy?” Police sources said Phoenix showed no remorse for beating the 31-year-old victim in the mistaken belief he was gay because he was walking arm-in-arm with his brother. “He kept saying, ‘What’s the big deal? The guy’s dead,'” a police source said.

Phoenix, an unemployed felon out on parole, was caught on security video laughing just 19 minutes after he and Hakim Scott, 25, bashed José with an aluminum baseball bat on December 7. Phoenix reportedly continued to swing at Sucuzhanay even as he lay twitching on the ground.  José was declared brain dead five days later. Scott confessed and has shown remorse for his role in José’s death, saying he was glad to get it off his chest. But Phoenix is a different animal altogether.

Bearden Spared Death Penalty For Killing Ryan Skipper

Joseph Bearden, right, reacts to the verdict. (Ernst Peters/The Ledger)

Joseph Bearden, 21, has been found guilty on all counts stemming from the death of Ryan Skipper and was sentenced to life imprisonment today. After nearly two days of deliberation, a Florida jury found Bearden guilty of second degree murder, theft of a motor vehicle, accessory after the fact to robbery with a weapon, tampering with evidence, and dealing in stolen property.

Bearden was being tried for first-degree murder, But with the guilty verdict for second degree murder, Bearden was spared a possible death penalty. Judge J. Michael Hunter told Bearden that he believed he killed Ryan because he way gay. While the judge gave him the maximum penalty for second degree murder, Bearden will nevertheless be eligible for parole in twenty-five years.

Bearden’s codefendent, William David Brown, Jr., 20, will be tried separately at a later date.

In March 2007, Ryan’s body was found by the side of a rural Florida road with more than 20 stab wounds and his throat slashed. Police allege that Brown and Bearden killed Ryan and stole his car. A witness testified that Brown killed Ryan because he was gay. After finding it impossible to clean up the blood in the car to sell it, Brown and Bearden set it on fire. But because it didn’t fully burn, investigators were able to obtain fingerprints from the car.

Second Arrest Made In José Sucuzhañay Murder Case

Keith Phoenix

The second man wanted in the murder of José Sucuzhañay was arrested this morning in a pre-dawn raid in the Bronx. Keith Phoenix was sleeping when police found and arrested him without incident.

Phoenix is alleged to be the one who beat José Sucuzhañay with an aluminum baseball bat while a group of men beat and kicked him while shouting anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs. Phoenix was also caught on surveillance tape laughing and smiling just nineteen minutes after the attack.

José, an Ecuadorian immigrant was not gay. But he was walking home arm in arm with his brother, Romel, after a night of heavy drinking when the assailants drove by and mistook them for a gay couple. Romel was not seriously injured in the attack. José was declared brain dead five days later.

Hakim Scott, 25, was arrested on Tuesday and reportedly gave a complete confession. He was arraigned Thursday on charges of second degree murder as a hate crime.

Arrest Made In José Sucuzhañay’s Murder

José Sucuzhañay

New York Police has arrested a suspect in the December 7 beating death of José Sucuzhañay. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last night that police arrested Hakim Scott of the Bronx and were looking for a second suspect.

We have done what we said we were going to do, bringing Jose’s killers to justice,” Bloomberg said. “In this city, there is no such thing as a second class citizen.

“Anyone who commits a hate crime, we will not rest until we arrest them.” Bloomberg said.

According to witnesses, José was walking arm-in-arm with his brother Romel after a night of heavy drinking when several passengers in a maroon SUV mistook them for a gay couple. Someone yelled, “Check out those faggots over there,” as the SUV pulled over and as many as three attackers emerged from the vehicle. One of the men broke a bottle over José’s head. When he fell to the ground, another began beating him with a baseball bat while the others kicked and punched him, yelling anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs. The attackers fled when Romel called 911. Romel was not seriously hurt, but José was declared brain dead a week later.

Hakim Scott

Scott has a lengthy rap sheet, including arrests for assault, robbery and weapons possession. He will be arraigned on Thursday on a charge of second degree murder as a hate crime. According to police, he was the one who broke the bottle over José’s head. Once in custody, Scott “made a full confession,” according to investigators.Two others are still being sought.

Keith Phoenix

Update: Police are offering a a $22,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the second suspect. Police say that Keith Phoenix, 28, was vehicle’s driver. They also say he was the man who beat José with an aluminum baseball bat. Phoenix is on parole for armed robbery and is a friend of Scott’s from their Bronx neighborhood.

Candlelight Vigil for Simmie Williams

Simmie Williams, Jr.

A candlelight vigil was held Sunday in Fort Lauderdale for Simmie Williams, Jr., who was shot to death exactly one year ago. Simmie was dressed in drag when he was shot down. He was seventeen. Despite a $5,000 reward, no arrests have been made in the case. Denise King, Simmie’s mother, spoke at the event:

“When you look at it, it could happen again,” King said. “And it’s going to be somebody else’s child and they will want somebody to step up, you know, and speak and tell what they want.”

Jury Hears Details of Ryan Skipper’s Murder

A jury in Bartow, Florida, heard evidence this week in the grisly 2007 murder of Ryan Skipper. Joseph Beardon, along with co-defendant William Brown Jr., is accused of robbing and killing Ryan, and dumping his body. Brown will be tried later at a separate trial.

The murder of of the 25-year-old gay man in Wahneta, Florida, has drawn widespread attention, not only for the grisly details of his murder, but also because the family and the LGBT community in Florida has been asked to keep a low profile during the trial. According to OA Online:

Lynn Mulder said Florida Assistant State Attorney Cass Castillo advised him that any conspicuous presence by the gay community, inside the courtroom or demonstrating outside the courthouse, could jeopardize the trial, which began Monday. So the Mulders are asking them to show their support, but silently, unobtrusively. Until the trial is over, they’re being asked to become invisible and voiceless.

On March 14, 2007, Bearden and Brown allegedly killed Ryan by stabbing him more than 20 times and slitting his throat, and leaving his body on a dark, rural road in Wahneta, Florida. The two defendants then took Ryan’s car and bragged of killing him because he was “a faggot.”

According to 265gay.com, several members of the jury were visibly shaken by autopsy photos showing that Ryan’s throat had been slashed and his torso covered with as many as twenty stab wounds. His back and shoulders were covered with blood. Associate Medical Examiner Vera Volnikh testified that Ryan’s wrists and arms also had slashes and deep cuts, indicating that he tried to fight off the attack. Volnikh testified that it was the cut to the throat that killed Ryan.The cut was 3.5 inches deep, tearing through skin, tissue, muscles and, more fatally, an artery. Ryan quickly bled to death within minutes.

Details of the events leading up to the attack are confusing and conflicting. According to testimony by John Kirchoff, a friend of Brown, Bearden had originally planned to rob Ryan at Ryan’s home. But when someone else came home, the two got into Ryan’s car and left. According to Kirchoff, they went to the home of Brown’s uncle where Kirchoff and Brown were staying to try to exchange a broken laptop for drugs. Other accounts dispute this point, saying that Ryan didn’t own a laptop, but that Ryan knew Brown because Brown knew a previous tenant at Ryan’s house.

At some point, Brown and Bearden decided to steal Ryan’s car, so they persuaded Ryan to give them a ride somewhere in Ryan’s new Chevrolet Aveo. When Kirchoff saw Brown again later that night, he had blood on his shirt.

According to Sheriff’s investigators, Bearden and Brown tried to clean and sell the car. But it was too badly soaked with blood to be cleaned and they didn’t have a copy of the car’s title to sell it, so they abandoned it on a dock on Lake Pansy in Winter Haven and set it on fire. The flames only caused minor damage, and investigators were able to retrieve both of their fingerprints from the car.

The defense is expected to present its case next week. Bearden, who is pleading not guilty to charges of robbery and first degree murder, faces the death penalty. The Sheriff’s department describes the incident as a hate crime, but because Bearden already faces the death penalty for first degree murder, adding a hate crimes enhancement will have no bearing on the case. The hate crime classification is not a separate charge but an enhancement during sentencing for existing criminal charges.

Larry King’s Caretakers Seek to Profit from his Murder

Lawrence King was adopted at age three by Gregory and Dawn King. According to the Kings, he never bonded with them. In November 2007 he was removed from their home and placed in a group home after he complained that Gregory King was physically abusive.

But none of that is stopping the Kings from seeking to be paid for their loss. And they are not above trashing Larry in order to get some cash.

To celebrate the one year anniversary of Larry’s death, Gregory and Dawn king have filed a wrongful death lawsuit assigning the blame for Larry’s murder on Larry himself and faulting everyone in sight. (SJ Merc)

The 18-page lawsuit filed by King’s parents and brother names nearly two dozen defendants. It claims that everyone from King’s teacher to his social worker failed to urge the effeminate teen to tone down flamboyant behavior. The suit also claims they failed to heed McInerney’s alleged threat to kill King a day before the shooting.

In addition to his teacher and principal, the suit names McInerney and his parents; the nonprofit Casa Pacifica, a shelter for troubled children where King had been living; counselors; a county social worker, and the Ventura County Rainbow Alliance.

The school and shelter knew that King’s behavior was “sexually assertive” and threatening but failed to take action, the suit contends.

The shelter gave him “cross-dressing clothes and makeup and women’s boots,” and the Rainbow Alliance encouraged King to make sexual advances on McInerney, the suit claims.

While the Kings can sue anyone they think has cash for wrongful death in every state in the Union, in Utah gay people don’t have the right to sue anyone at all for the loss of their devoted and much loved and cared-for partner.

More Details Come Out on Larry King’s Killer

A year ago this week, 14 year old Brandon McInerney calmly walked up and shot two bullets into the back of 15 year old Larry King’s head. The students who knew both children said that King was killed because he was gay.

Almost immediately, McInerney’s lawyer started an image campaign designed to present King as the aggressor and McInerney as the victim. The pinacle of his efforts came in July of last year when Newsweek’s gossip writer Ramin Setoodeh ran a hit piece on King, claiming that he “flaunted his sexuality” and engaged in “inappropriate, sometimes harmful, behavior” and insinuating that King was a sexual predator who pushed McInerney beyond his breaking point.

Many in the gay community, being kind of heart and sympathetic to those who are hurting, joined the voices of those who called for leniency for McInerney.

And unless you’re heartless, one can feel badly for a kid who was raised economically disadvantaged in a family without structure and perhaps subjected to teasing. It is easy to think that this is just an otherwise good kid that snapped and in a brief moment acted impulsively. Maybe compassion would be a better response than incarceration in a cold penal system.

But in October, the LA Times revealed some information that suggested that perhaps Brandon McInerney wasn’t the all American good kid that his defense team would have us believe. We learned that he had a fascination with Adolf Hitler and like to doodle swaztikas. And the prosecution’s insistance on trying the child as an adult – with hate crimes enchancements – seemed less callous.

Until now the district attorney has not told the prosecution’s side of the story. But now the LA Times has reviewed court documents which tell of a very different Brandon McInerney and a very different Larry King.

Lawrence “Larry” King wasn’t sexually harassing fellow eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney in the weeks leading up to King’s shooting death, prosecutors contend in court documents.

McInerney was the aggressor, teasing the effeminate King for weeks and vowing to “get a gun and shoot” him, according to a prosecution brief.

The additional charges of the prosecution include:

• McInerney looked for other to join in a gang beating of King in the days before the shooting. Unable to find others interested he decided to kill King.
• McInerney was familiar with the gun with which he killed King, having used it for target practice.
• It wasn’t until King had suffered months of being called “faggot” by McInerney and others that he began to retort by making sexual taunts to McInerney.
• Other students heard McInerney threaten to shoot King in the days before he did so.
• In addition to the skinhead and neo-Nazi materials, McInerney also had a training video called “Shooting in Realistic Environments”.

It is difficult to know the appropriate response when a very young kid commits a premeditated act of murder, especially when the motivation appears to be bias based. But as more of this story comes out, it seems less like a mystery of children behaving impulsively and more of a cautionary tale about cauldrons of hate and the tragedies they brew.

This is, for all, a tragic story and a time for introspection. I truly wish all of those who are called to serve justice on this case much wisdom, compassion, and the ability to look to what is best for society.

Sean Kennedy Murderer Denied Parole

We reported last month that Stephen Moller, Sean Kennedy’s murderer, was seeking parole this month. We’ve now learned that Moller’s request for parole was denied Wednesday morning.

Stephen Moller was originally charged with murder for the death of Sean Kennedy, 20, who was attacked outside a Greenville County, S.C. bar on May 16, 2007. Witnesses said that Moller shouted anti-gay epithets at Kennedy before attacking him. Sean died of his injuries. While Moller was originally charged with murder, a grand jury reduced the charges to involuntary manslaughter. Moller pleaded guilty to those reduced charges and was sentenced to five years. That sentence was then reduced to three, minus seven months for time served. Moller’s attorney said that when all is said and done, Moller will probably serve about a year and a half. With credit for time served, he is due to be released in September.

South Carolina has no hate crime law covering sexual orientation, but it does have a law that says torturing animals can get you five years in prison. Killing a gay man? Half that.

Knoxville Shooter To Receive Life Prison Term

Jim David Adkisson, the man who opened fire at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee and killed two people, will receive two concurrent life sentences without parole for each of the two slayings in exchange for a guilty plea. Adkisson will also receive concurrent 25-year prison terms for six counts of attempted murder.

On July 27, 2008, Adkisson walked into the church carrying a shotgun he head hidden in a guitar case and opened fire. A children’s performance of the musical “Annie Jr.” was just getting started when Adkisson began firing indiscriminately. Greg McKendry, 60, was the first to confront Adkisson, and he was killed instantly. Also killed was Linda Kraeger, 61, who was a visitor to the church. Church members were able to wrestle Adkisson.

During the investigation following the shooting, police found a manifestoin Adkisson’s truck in which, according to police, he expressed “hatred of the liberal movement, Liberals in general, as well as gays.” Despite calls to release the letter, it hasn’t been publicly released.

Vandals Strike Pro-Gay Catholic Church

The Most Holy Redeemer Church, located in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro district, was targeted by vandalsover the weekend, presumably over the Catholic Church’s support of Proposition 8. The parish church was spray painted with swastikas, the slogan “Prop H8,” and with the names “Ratzinger” (referring to Pope Benedict XVI) and San Francisco Archbishop Niederauer. San Francisco police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime.

Impressively, the erudite vandals spelled Niederauer’s name correctly (a feat that I can’t accomplish without the old trusty cut-and-paste). Niederauer became an outspoken proponent of Prop 8 during the campaign, sending a pastoral letter to all churches in his diocese — including Holy Redeemer — calling on parishioners to vote for the proposal.

Holy Redeemer however is known in the Castro as being decidedly gay friendly despite the larger Church’s stance on homosexuality. Holy Redeemer bills itself as “your Catholic Church in the Castro,” and “an inclusive Catholic community,” welcoming everyone “regardless of their background, gender, gender identity, race, social status, or sexual orientation.” According to Rev. Donal Godfrey, some two-thirds of the Holy Redeemer parishioners are gay or lesbian. Many of them are married couples, and some of their children have been baptized in the church.

Holy Redeemer has had an active AIDS ministry since 1985, becoming one of the earliest Christian ministries to serve people with AIDS with compassion — a move that most Christian churches still have not embraced.  In 1986, the convent was converted into a hospice to care for people dying of AIDS-related illnesses. Contingents from Holy Redeemer also participate in community events like the Castro Street Fair and the annual Pride celebration.

Pastor Steve Meriweather told KCBS his parishioners actually share the vandals’ sentiment against Prop 8. “I think it’s unfortunate that they selected our community to attack,” said Meriweather, “because it’s the wrong one.”

But even if the vandal had picked “the right” target, this is still incredibly stupid. This episode will play perfectly into the hands of anti-gay activists. Those who successfully targeted gays and lesbians for constitutional discrimination will cry “discrimination!” and claim that this is yet another example of “persecution.” Which just goes to show that all hate crimes have one common thread: regardless of their particular grief, all hate crimes are committed by morons.

Update: Some anti-gay web sites are claiming that “gays” vandalized Holy Redeemer. In fact, we do not know who spray painted the graffiti on the church. It could have been opponents to Prop 8, or it could have been a prop 8 supporter trying to garner sympathy — and spelling Niederauer’s name correctly in the process. Who knows? We don’t, and unless police are able to shed more light on the subject, we won’t assume or speculate either way.

Arrests in Lesbian Gang Rape Case

We reported on the brutal Bay-area gang rape of an unidentified Lesbian a few weeks ago. She was singled out because she had a rainbow sticker on her car. Now we can pass on the news that there have been three arrests so far:

Richmond police on Wednesday arrested a 15-year-old male and 21-year-old Humberto Hernandez Salvadore at their Richmond homes. The 15-year-old was charged with felony counts of sexual assault, kidnapping and robbery, said Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan. Salvadore, who authorities described as the ringleader in the incident, was charged with felony counts of kidnapping to commit a sex crime, carjacking, rape, gang rape, as well as charged associated with probation violation and felonies committed while on probation.

…A sixteen-year-old male from Hercules turned himself in around midnight, was charged with felonies related to the alleged rape and kidnapping and was also being held in a juvenile detention center. The teenager, who was known by the nickname “Blue,” was accompanied by his family, Gagan said.

Salvadore is being regarded as the ringleader, giving orders and directions to the three other rapists. A fourth suspect, 21-year-old Josue “Pato” Gonzalez is still at large under a $1 million arrest warrant. He is said to be armed and dangerous. Update: Gonzales turned himself in to police on New Year’s Day.

The 45-minute terror occurred at 9:30 p.m. on December 13 in Richmond, California’s Belding-Wood neighborhood when the woman, whose name has not been released to protect her identity, got out of her vehicle. Her assailants saw the rainbow sticker on her car, and one of them hit her with a blunt object and ordered her to remove her clothing.

After raping her there, they forced her back into her car after her attackers saw someone approaching. She was driven several blocks away, where she was repeatedly raped some more near an apartment complex. The attackers then drove off in her car. The woman, left nearly naked, sought help from a nearby resident who called the police.

Lesbian Gang-Raped In Hate Crime

A terrible hate crime in the East Bay community of Richmond, California:

Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of four men who allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped for nearly an hour a 28-year-old Richmond woman, who was left naked when they fled in her car.

The crime, which occurred on Dec. 13, is being investigated as a hate crime because of comments the suspects made about the victim’s sexual orientation, police said. The woman is openly lesbian and had a rainbow sticker on her license plate, a symbol of gay pride.

Brooklyn Hate Crime Victim Dies

José Sucuzhañay, 31, the Ecuadorian immigrant who was brutally beaten early Sunday morning with a bottle and baseball bat died last night. He was beaten along with his brother, Romel, by passengers from a maroon SUV who saw the Ecuadorian brothers walking arm in arm after leaving a bar from a long night of drinking. The attackers mistook the two brothers as gay.

Jose had been declared brain dead on Tuesday and a death certificate was filed. His mother was still enroute from Ecuador when Jose passed away. The family had kept him on life support pending his mother’s arrival, but his heart stopped on Friday.

The attack occurred about 3:30 a.m. last Sunday as the two brothers were walking home after having been drinking. José and Romel were drunk and were holding each other as they were helping each other get home. Three men in a red or maroon SUV saw them and apparrently mistook them for being gay. They jumped out the SUV and one of the men broke a bottle over José’s head. When he fell to the ground, another began beating him with a baseball bat while the others kicked and punched him, yelling anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs. When Romel called 911 on his cell phone, the assailants piled back into the SUV and drove away. Romel was not seriously injured in the attack.

Police have made no arrests. They are investigating the murder as a hate crime.

There will be a vigil today in Brooklyn starting at 2:00 p.m. at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Grove Street. They will then walk to the site of the attack at Bushwick Avenue and Kossuth Place for a vigil at 4:00 p.m.

Capital Crime: Appearing Gay

The two men were tipsy from drinking at a Mexican restaurant so they held onto each other on their way home. The passengers of the maroon SUV say them arm in arm and yelled, “Check out those f—-ts over there.” They pulled over and attacked the men, shouting homophobic and racist comments.

Witnesses said the three men got out of the SUV and set upon them. One hit José Sucuzhañay in the head with a glass bottle, dropping him to the sidewalk.

The SUV driver battered the defenseless man’s head with an aluminum baseball bat, witnesses said, while the others kicked and punched both brothers.

Neither of the two men, brothers José and Romel Sucuzhañay, are gay. They are from a culture in which brothers are not discouraged to show affection. But now Jose has been declared brain dead and his mother is flying in from Ecuador to say goodbye.

Pardon me if I’m finding it difficult to sympathize with the anti-gay activists who are whining about “violence” from gay “mobs”.