NEW YORK — The attorney for the man accused in the murder of a gay man in New York’s Greenwich Village on Saturday says his client is not guilty, and implied that his anti-gay bias is the result of being sexually abused as a child.
Kevin Michael Canfield, the attorney for Elliot Morales, appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday to receive notification of a grand jury indictment against his client.
Morales is accused of fatally wounding Mark Carson, 32. Morales allegedly hurled homophobic slurs at Carson before firing a single shot to his head.
Canfied said Thursday that Morales is not guilty of the slaying and is “devastated by the charges,” reported The New York Daily News.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
“He didn’t murder anybody,” Canfield said, suggesting there were other factors at play.
“He was sexually abused as a child by a male authority figure which led to a lifetime of alcoholism and drug abuse,” Canfield told the Daily News, adding, “It’s a terrible tragedy.”
On Saturday, seconds before opening fire in the lively Village streets just after midnight, police say Morales followed Carson and a companion through the Village, asking if they “want to die here,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.
Police said Morales then yelled anti-gay slurs before shooting Carson point-blank in the face in a neighborhood long known as a bedrock of the gay rights movement.
Morales was soon arrested a few blocks away. He has been charged with murder as a hate crime.
