The senseless murder of Harlem gay man Mark Carson last month sent shock waves across the nation and left many wondering why his murderer, Elliot Morales, would kill a man on the streets of New York’s Greenwich Village without any reasonable cause. And in a recent report, Morales finally revealed the cold, hard truth about why he killed Carson.
“I killed him. He was trying to act tough so I shot him,” Morales told officers in police statements released Tuesday, according to the Huffington Post.
Morales reportedly hurled numerous anti-gay slurs at Carson before killing him, he claims that he’s not homophobic at all.
“I am not gay. I don’t have a problem with gay people. I have lots of gays in my life,” Morales said in the statement. In the statement, Morales also told police about his own personal problems, telling them about his sister who is a “crackhead” and her boyfriend who “raped her niece.”
“I am homeless and I stay with friends once in while,” he said. “My family life is f—ed up, which is why I drink.”
Morales has been far from remorseful about the murder, allegedly telling cops “Yeah, I shot him in the head,” as he laughed and boasted while being arrested at the scene of the crime. But despite feeling no sorrow over the murder itself, Morales told police that he regretted the affect that the murder would have on his mother.
“This is gonna kill my mom…I always hurt her and make bad decisions in life and make her cry,” he said, before asking, “Did someone die? Did a child die?”
Morales has now been indicted on charges of second degree murder as a hate crime, as well as criminal possession of a weapon and menacing. He pleaded not guilty during his appearance in a Manhattan court on Tuesday.
If convicted of murder as a hate crime, Morales faces 25 years to life in prison.
Clearly, Morales’ sense of humanity and justice is extremely lacking. Sadly, this isn’t the only case of an LGBT hate crime. Check out some other famous hate crimes below. – nicholas robinson
