"Derogatory" and "threatening" anti-gay messages left in the stairwell where a star New York City high school basketball player was killed in September are being investigated as possible hate crimes, according several reports.
Watch ABC 7's report AFTER THE JUMP ...
Eighteen-year-old Tayshana "Chicken" Murphy was gunned down on September 11 in the Harlem public housing building where she lived. "Murphy was one of the top girls basketball players in the city. She was ranked as the 16th best point guard in the nation for her class by ESPN," reported CBS News. Murphy was reportedly lesbian.
Twenty-year-old Robert Cartagena and and 21-year-old Tyshawn Brockington were captured in South Carolina. Both pleaded not guilty to second degree murder charges on October 19. "Surveillance video showed the two men at the scene of the crime with guns in their waistbands," according the NYPD. Police believe she was involved in a dispute between gang members and possibly trying to protect her brother.
Threatening messages have been found in the building, reports ABC 7. "[H]ateful, threatening and anti-gay comments and pictures according to sources were written about Murphy. They are all so derogatory that Eyewitness News can't air any of it. One resident was flat out scared and doesn't want to be identified."
A third suspect has been arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon "for allegedly providing Brockington and Cartagena with the gun that killed the tragic teen," reports NY Post.
Watch ABC 7's report AFTER THE JUMP ...
What an awful ending to this young woman's promising life. She's gone and we're left with the three lumps of sh.t that murdered her.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | 31 October 2011 at 16:26
VERY SAD AND UNECESSARY!
Posted by: BLACK | 31 October 2011 at 18:25
I know....but I would love to cell with yellow dude...his a** would be mine....
Posted by: Charles | 31 October 2011 at 20:49
@Charles, gee thanks for keeping such a sad, horrific story in its proper perspective.
Not.
Posted by: SouthernIvy | 02 November 2011 at 06:02
Charles: "The yellow dude" that shot the girl in the head is cute? Pathetic. But keep telling yourself that, hon. Something tells me you hear that often.
Posted by: Former COGIC | 02 November 2011 at 10:28