NEW YORK (AP) – A man who identifies as bisexual has been found guilty of murder as a hate crime for shooting a gay man he taunted on a New York City street.
A Manhattan jury convicted Elliot Morales on Wednesday in the 2013 death of Mark Carson. Morales admitted pulling the trigger but said he acted in self-defense and argued that he couldn’t be found guilty of a hate crime because he is bi.
He faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced.
Witnesses testified at Morales’ trial that he shouted anti-gay slurs at Carson and his roommate before firing a fatal shot when the men confronted him.
New York’s hate crime law doesn’t say attackers need to be of a different ethnicity or sexuality than their victim.