Life in Prison for Antigay Gang Hit

Timothy E. Rawlings, Jr., a Baltimore gang leader who ordered a hit on one of his members, who he suspected was gay, was sentenced to life in prison without parole Tuesday.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the 24-year-old Rawlings "showed no emotion as Baltimore County Circuit Judge Robert N. Dugan told him that the killing of Steven Parrish, for the sole reason that the victim showed signs of being homosexual, was 'senseless, brutal, unprovoked, cold-blooded, premeditated murder.'"

Rawlings was a leader of the gang called 92 Family Swans, which is affiliated with the Bloods. In an earlier trial this year, he was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and two hate crimes in the 2008 murder.

According to the Sun, "Prosecutors said that Rawlings had demanded that two men kill Parrish after they discovered that he had exchanged salacious phone messages with another man. Rawlings believed that Parrish's apparent homosexuality would 'make the gang look weak,' prosecutors said."