The man accused of shooting a gay man in Greenwich Village on Friday in a hate crime allegedly told cops, "Yeah, I shot him in the head," while laughing. That's what prosecutors told a judge about Elliot Morales, who was charged with murder as a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon in the death of Mark Carson.

Carson, 32, and his friend had been walking on Sixth Avenue near 8th Street when Morales, 33, started to harass them, saying, “Look at these faggots" and “What are you, gay wrestlers?” Carson and his friend kept walking along 8th Street to avoid confrontation, but Morales followed. Morales' friends had tried to convince him to stop but he refused, so they left. Then Morales reportedly asked Carson, "Do you want to die here?" before shooting him.

Morales' friends are cooperating with the investigation; they had endured an ugly incident right before the shooting. The NY Times reports, " The police said that on Friday night, Mr. Morales and the two men had gone to the neighborhood and that Mr. Morales had urinated in front of the Annisa bar and restaurant on Barrow Street at West Fourth Street. The police said he then went inside and confronted the bartender with antigay slurs. He yanked up his sweatshirt, showing off a revolver in a shoulder holster, and threatened to kill the bartender if he called 911, the police said."

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, "It's clear that the victim here was killed only because and just because he was thought to be gay — there's no question about that. There were derogatory remarks. The victim did nothing to antagonize or instigate the shooter. It was only done because the shooter believed him to be gay."

There's been an apparent spike in hate crimes: The killing was the 22nd anti-gay attack this year so far; the Post noted, "Anti-gay attacks are up an alarming 77 percent from 13 such assaults during the same period last year." Glennda Testone of the LGBT Center told the NY Times, "Things seem a little more hostile in the Village lately. People have been saying it’s especially on the weekends, when there is more of a commuter crowd. Perhaps what we’re seeing is that the growing approval of the L.G.B.T. community and the increasing equality isn’t reaching to every single street."

And the NYC Anti-Violence Project's Sharon Stapel said, "The Village has always been a place where L.G.B.T. people have felt accepted and respected, but the Village is not immune from this vitriolic anti-L.G.B.T. violence. And we are not a homogeneous community. If you talk to young non-gender-conforming kids of color, they’re going to have a very different experience than older white L.G.B.T. people."

There will be a march from the LGBT Center at 208 West 13th Street to West 8th Street and 6th Avenue, starting at 5:30 p.m. A rally will follow at 6 p.m., and the marchers include City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Members Rosie Mendez, Daniel Dromm, James Van Bramer, and Mark Weprin, as well as numerous LGBT groups and community groups.