NEW YORK (AP) - The fate of a man accused of shooting a gay man in the head after taunting him on a street in New York City is now in the hands of a jury.
A jury began deliberating Tuesday in Elliot Morales’ case in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.
The 36-year-old has been charged with murder as a hate crime and weapons possession in the shooting death of Mark Carson in May 2013.
Witnesses have said Morales shouted anti-gay slurs at Carson and his roommate, Danny Robinson, on a street in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village before firing a fatal shot when the men confronted him.
Morales has argued the shooting couldn’t be a hate crime because he is bisexual.
If convicted of the top charge, Morales faces up to 30 years in prison.
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