News (USA)

Suspect in gay hate crime murder torments the victim’s friend in court

On Tuesday, footage of a gay man’s confrontation with a man who allegedly shot and killed him were shown at the suspect’s trial — who then viciously grilled the victim’s grieving friend.

On May 18, 2013, Elliot Morales asked Mark Carson and Danny Robinson:

“What are you, gay wrestlers?”

He then pulled out a Taurus .38-caliber gun and shot Carson in the face.

Morales is serving as his own lawyer at the trial, which is taking place at Manhattan Supreme Court.

He is claiming that the two men provoked the shooting.

“You could have avoided all of this from escalating to the level it did if you and Mr. Carson just went along with your own business,” said 36-year-old Morales.

“That is so offensive,” said Robinson, 34, shaking his head.

Justice Kirke Bartley agreed: “Sustained.”

After a drunken Morales called the two men “f–gots,” Carson and Robinson confronted him.

Surveillance video shows the men standing outside a pizzeria.

After Morales turned the corner onto Eighth Street, the two men followed him, exchanging more heated words before Morales allegedly shot 32-year-old Carson.

“Wouldn’t you agree,” Morales asked Robinson, “seeing this firearm and telling me to put it down, wouldn’t you consider that to be more instigating the whole situation?”

“Instigating? Not at all.”

“You could have kept going?” Morales asked.

“Yeah,” said Robinson. ” We could have easily kept going while we see a guy standing there with a gun. That doesn’t make sense.”

Then Morales played the 911 call, and jurors could clearly hear the blast and Robinson shouting, “Some guy just shot my friend!”

“I didn’t hear it,” Morales said of the gunshot, and cued up the tape again.  “Point it out to me.”

“Oh, my God,” Robinson exclaimed.

Morales suggested he pulled the trigger only after Robinson reached into his pocket for his phone.

“Is it possible what happened was a reaction to the threat that was put on my own life?” he asked. “You reached into your pocket and removed what I believed was a black gun at the time.”

Robinson wiped tears from his eyes as he exited the courtroom.

According to the Michael Cherry, general manager of Annisa restaurant, Morales’ antigay tirade began hours earlier when he urinated on the front window of the establishment.

“I asked them to move away,” he said. “Morales said, ‘You wanna get a look at my tiny d—k?”

Cherry left, and then Morales entered the restaurant, calling the staff “f-gots” and threatening the bartender with his un. walked away but moments later Morales entered the restaurant allegedly calling the staff “f–gots” and threatening the bartender with a gun.

“He was saying, ‘He had a gun, he had a gun,’’ Cherry said. “He was beside himself with fright.”

Morales is charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime and other raps.

In his opening remark, he insisted he’s not a bigot.

ADA Shannon Lucey told jurors that Morales killed Carson for one reason only:

The fact that he was gay.

Watch the surveillance footage below:

h/t: New York Post

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