(NEW YORK) -- The man accused of murdering a gay man Saturday in what police are calling an anti-gay hate crime was boasting and laughing about the murder, prosecutors say.
According to The New York Post, 33-year-old Elliot Morales, an ex-con with a length criminal record, was laughing as police arrested him for allegedly shooting Mark Carson, 32, in the head on Saturday.
“Yeah, I shot him in the head,” Morales is reported to have said while rolling on the ground laughing.
Carson, a Harlem resident, and his companion were just blocks from the infamous Stonewall Inn Saturday when Morales and two other people approached them. Morales began yelling anti-gay slurs at them.
Morales, asked the two men if they were “gay wrestlers," and later asked “do you want to die here?"
Carson and his companions kept walking to attempt to avoid a conflict, as did Morales’ friends. He then pulled out a gun and shot Carson in the face with no provocation, according to NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly.
“The victim did nothing to antagonize or instigate the shooter. It was only done because the shooter believed him to be gay,” Kelly said.
Carson died in the hospital soon afterwards.
This is the latest in a series of bias attacks on gay men in the area, and police are investigating to see if there is any connection between this incident and earlier ones.
“It's a really sad affair,” said Sean Williams, a friend of Carson. “I mean, come on. This is 2013. Who's killing people for being gay nowadays?”
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