Back in March, straight Long Island 18-year-old Anthony Collao was beaten to death in a hail of homophobic slurs while leaving a birthday party in Woodhaven, Queens. Today, the DA there charged six teens involved in the beating with murder as a hate crime.
Collao had been attending a friend's birthday party when a group of young men arrived who did not want to pay the cover. They pushed their way in and reportedly quickly began picking fights, busting windows and scrawling anti-gay slurs on the walls. "They called us homos and all kinds of stuff," said one man celebrating his 20th birthday.
Collao reportedly fled in his car with a friend, but the suspects followed him and beat him up. Allegedly, the attackers beat Collao with a stick, a metal pipe and a cane before stomping on him; all the while, they were spewing homophobic slurs. He died two days later.
Now, 18-year-old Nolis Ogando, 17-year-old Alex Velez, 17-year-old Christopher Lozada, 17-year-old Calvin Pietri, 16-year-old Luis Tabales and 16-year-old Jonathan Echevarria have been charged on a 21-count indictment which updated the top charge from manslaughter to murder as a hate crime. If convicted, they face a minimum 20 years and a maximum 25 years to life in prison.
