
By Lucas Grindley
Originally published on Advocate.com September 09 2011 4:39 PM ET
Police have made an arrest in the case of a Waterloo, Iowa, man beaten to death on a friend's front porch while being called antigay slurs.
The The Courier of Waterloo–Cedar Falls reports that Paris Akeem Anding, 19, was arrested Thursday on charges of second-degree murder. Anding is being held in jail without bond. And new details about the killing of of 19-year-old Marcellus Andrews have emerged from a criminal complaint filed today, according to the Associated Press. Police say Andrews was killed after being hit in the head with a baseball bat.
Iowa police have so far refused to investigate Andrews's murder as a hate crime despite witnesses saying they heard antigay slurs used during the beating. Andrews's family recently spoke out, saying they also do not want the murder prosecuted as a hate crime because Andrews was not gay. The victim's cousin told the media that just because a man is effeminate, it doesn't make him gay.
Whether a victim is gay, though, is not a legal requirement for an attack to be labeled a hate crime. Police say the crime is not being pursued as motivated by antigay attitudes because the attack happened as the result of a long-running dispute between rivals.
Links:
[1] http://www.advocate.com/
[2] http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/police-arrest-suspect-in-beating-death-of-marcellus-andrews/article_c349ece4-da73-11e0-aa4c-001cc4c03286.html
[3] http://www.chron.com/news/article/Complaint-Man-used-bat-to-kill-Waterloo-teenager-2162513.php
[4] http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/09/02/Family_of_Slain_Man_Dont_Want_a_Hate_Crime_Investigation/