‘Self-loathing’ killer sentenced to life in prison after shooting gay man in the face
By Ben Kelly
A New Yorker who shot a gay man in the face following a street argument has been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
Yesterday, the jury in the murder case of Mark Carson found Elliot Morales guilty of second degree murder. The incident occurred in New York’s West Village, not far from the legendary Stonewall Inn, on 17 May 2013.
Carson’s friend Danny Robinson testified that on the night in question, Morales walked past the two men calling them “faggots” and “queers”, adding, “You look like gay wrestlers.” The pair themselves turned back on Morales to confront him.
After a brief dispute, Morales – who claimed he felt threatened himself – pulled a gun and shot Carson point blank in the face, killing him instantly.
The jury were shown a video from the scene in which Morales is seen acting frenetically, saying, “I fucking shot him, he’s dead.”
According to the Guardian US, the prosecutor Shannon Lucey told the jury that the homophobic language used before the attack were an example of “how a killer dehumanizes the target of his anger”, adding that Morales thought of Carson as, “nothing but a sub-human faggot”.
Victim: Mark Carson was called a “faggot” before being shot in the face by Morales.
Mr Morales, who was representing himself in this case, tried to work against the presumption that he was homophobic – at one point calling a transgender woman with whom he had been in a sexual relationship, to testify on his behalf.
Morales said to jurors, “I consider myself trisexual, bisexual – multiple.” During his closing argument he asked, “How do you prosecute someone for a hate crime and you never even question their sexual orientation?”
The prosecution argued that Morales had “self-loathing” issues and “had a problem with proud open gay men,” as evidenced by a previous occasion during which he’d pulled a gun on a gay restaurant employee.
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