The Baltimore Sun is reporting that the body of Steven Parrish, 18, was found May 29 in a wooded area near his parents' home and Woodlawn Cemetery. Why was he killed? Because gang members believed was gay. Or at least that is how it is looking based on statements made by two teens arrested for his murder. Despite such heinous acts against gays, Christianists and presidential candidate John McCain oppose adding sexual orientation to the hate crimes laws. I suspect that if the truth were known, they figure "one less faggot" is something positive. Personally, it makes me sick - and angry. Hopefully, these two bastards get the max when it comes to sentencing. Here are some story highlights:*
Two teenagers were ordered held without bail yesterday in the death of a Randallstown High School student who was stabbed and stomped to death after his fellow Bloods gang members found messages on his phone that suggested he was gay. Steven T. Hollis III, 18, of Randallstown and Juan L. Flythe, 17, of West Baltimore - both of whom are members of the Bloods gang, according to police - were arrested and charged Thursday evening with first-degree murder. They are accused of killing a fellow gang member days before his high school graduation in May.
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"It's awful," Baltimore County prosecutor William B. Bickel said in an interview after yesterday's bail-review hearing in Towson. "You're talking about a gangland-style execution because he was gay. They took him out back in a field and stabbed him to death."
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A neighbor told police that Parrish left his parents' home with another young man and walked toward the woods. About a minute later, the witness and other neighbors heard someone yelling and pleading, "Stop! Why are you doing this to me? I didn't do anything!" according to court documents.
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On the day before Parrish's death, several members of the gang met at his home, according to charging documents. There, Hollis and Flythe discussed finding what they believed to be "gay" text messages on Parrish's cell phone. Angered by the messages and a photograph they found, they worried that their Bloods group would appear weak to others if word got out that they had a gay member, according to court records."
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As a result, they decided that Steven Parrish 'had to go,'" police wrote in charging documents. "There was no date or time discussed for the killing, but it was made very clear to all those present that Parrish was going to be killed."
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Flythe later told his fellow gang members that he and Hollis confronted Parrish, who did not deny that the messages were "gay" in nature, according to court records. Flythe also told his associates that they stabbed and hit the victim before stomping on his neck, according to charging documents. A red bandanna was placed over Parrish's face and he was left in the woods.
1 comment:
This is so typically a violent anti-gay crime. The gangs manifest strong emotional feelings, sometimes homo-erotic in private, but generally homophobic in public. It is unusual that this type crime would target one of their own members for death based solely upon his perceived homosexual sexual orientation, that I wonder if more issues were involved. And the violence itself, if overkill was evident, can speak to possible deeper motives.
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