Teens charged in fatal beating of Mexican immigrant

[PrincessArky]

PORT CARBON, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Three white teens were charged Friday in what officials said was an epithet-filled fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant in a small northeast Pennsylvania coal town.
Derrick Donchak, left, Brandon Piekarsky, center, and Colin Walsh, right, have been charged in the case.



Brandon J. Piekarsky, 16, and Colin J. Walsh, 17, were charged as adults with homicide and ethnic intimidation in the July 12 attack on Luis Ramirez.

A third teen, Derrick M. Donchak, 18, was charged with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other offenses. All are from Shenandoah, where the attack occurred.

Ramirez, 25, was beaten to death after an argument with a group of youths that police said included high school football players. Authorities could not immediately say whether any of the suspects were members of the team, but they confirmed that all three used ethnic slurs during the fight.

"As a result of this crime, a young man has lost his life. Many other lives have been devastated, and the borough of Shenandoah has been filled with tensions between many ethnic groups," Schuylkill County District Attorney James Goodman said.

"Now that the criminal charges have been filed, we must let this case be handled in the criminal justice system," he said.

Police said that as many as six teens were involved in the fight, which ended with Ramirez in convulsions and foaming at the mouth. He died July 14 of head injuries.

Crystal Dillman, the victim's 24-year-old fiancee, who is white and grew up in Shenandoah, has said Ramirez was often called derogatory names, including "dirty Mexican," and told to return to his homeland.

"I plan on moving out of this town as fast as I can. Not because I'm scared. I just don't want to see my children have to deal with what their father dealt with," Dillman said.

Piekarsky and Walsh were being held without bail, while Donchak was held in lieu of $75,000 bail.

Lawyers for Piekarsky and Walsh said that their clients were not guilty and that there was no evidence to support the homicide charges. They also said they would try to have the case removed to juvenile court.

Donchak declined comment.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/25/immigrant.killing.ap/index.html

so many lives ruined.....and for what :(

[jbbarn]

This story made me sick.Maybe these guys are just psychopaths,or maybe a lot of Americans are becoming unhinged because of all the illegals among us.Whatever the case,it's a shame the poor guy wasn't living in his own country where he belonged!

[Mom2Shaun]

Sick, just sick! I understand people being upset about illegal immigrants, but anything that fans the flames of hatred is evil and can lead to this.

[dv8grl]

Completely Senseless!

[YankeeMary]

So sad. Eventually something is going to have to be done or there will be more and more of these type of deaths.

[Jolie Rouge]

Stupidity reigns ... and while these thugs should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law ... what the heck is a charge of "ethnic intimidation" ? More "hate crimes" PC BS ?

[jbbarn]

"Sick, just sick! I understand people being upset about illegal immigrants, but anything that fans the flames of hatred is evil and can lead to this.'
__________________

I think it goes beyond "being upset..." People are fed up! Meanwhile,they just keep coming across our non-border,and having baby after baby,once they're here! It's time for the quacks in Washington to wake up and start enforcing our laws!

[Mom2Shaun]

I think the whole "anchor baby" thing (where having a baby here while an illegal immigrant makes it a citizen) is the dumbest thing! So I can understand being "upset" or "fed up" or even downright furious! But we must be not sow hatred and encourage evil.

[jbbarn]

I agree!

[Jolie Rouge]

Sick, just sick! I understand people being upset about illegal immigrants,.... but anything that fans the flames of hatred is evil and can lead to this.

.....But we must be not sow hatred and encourage evil.


:confused:

To whom are these last remarks addressed ? No one here has done anything but condemn these heinious acts ? Who do you think is "fanning the flames of hatred" or "sowing hatred to encourage evil" ?

:confused:

[Mom2Shaun]

Not to anyone in particular on here, especially not in this thread. However, I have seen some things in other threads that I found worrisome. (And I can't recall which ones, as it was some time ago.) I've also heard people in the "real world" make incendiary remarks, perhaps not realizing what they can lead to.

[Jolie Rouge]

Thanks for the reply ... wasn't sure if I wasn't just missing something

[dv8grl]

Pa. teens ordered to trial in immigrant's death

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080819/ap_on_re_us/immigrant_killing_students;_ylt=AnXLM.kO0YdzPAP5TB z70SVvzwcF

POTTSVILLE, Pa. - Three teens were ordered Monday to stand trial in the beating death of an illegal immigrant from Mexico after a friend of the defendants testified that the victim was sucker-punched and kicked in the head during a late-night, epithet-filled melee.

Luis Ramirez's death last month has increased racial tensions in the town of Shenandoah, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia, and yelling from protesters outside the courthouse forced a brief delay of Monday's preliminary hearing.

District Judge Anthony Kilker ruled that prosecutors had enough evidence to try Colin Walsh, 17, and Brandon Piekarsky, 16, on counts of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation. He threw out first- and second-degree murder charges against the pair, which means they no longer face the possibility of life prison sentences if convicted.

A third defendant, Derrick Donchak, 18, was ordered to stand trial on aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other counts.

Ramirez, 25, was attacked July 12 when he crossed paths with a group of current and former high school football players. The suspects, all Shenandoah residents, played football at Shenandoah Valley High School. Donchak, now enrolled at Bloomsburg University, was the quarterback last season.

Ben Lawson, a 17-year-old friend of the defendants, testified Monday that Walsh sucker-punched Ramirez and Piekarsky, then kicked the victim in the head while he lay motionless in the street. Defense attorneys characterized the attack as a street fight in which both sides were throwing punches.

Crystal Dillman, Ramirez's 24-year-old fiancee, sobbed on the witness stand as she described rushing to the scene and seeing an unconscious Ramirez "shaking and foaming from the mouth."

Lawson, testifying in a mumble, said he had been drinking malt liquor in the woods with Walsh, Piekarsky, Donchak and other friends a few hours before the attack. He said he drank two 40-ounce bottles and was intoxicated — a point seized on by the defense.

The prosecution "placed its whole case for murder on a 16-year-old who had consumed 80 ounces of malt liquor, who had a view from a darkened park across a darkened roadway," Frederick Fanelli, Piekarsky's lawyer, told the judge. "Is that it? We're going to hang him on that?"

Two other witnesses testified about seeing parts of the fight from a distance, but Lawson was the only witness to specify the defendants' alleged roles in the attack.

Lawson testified that the group encountered Ramirez and a teenage girl in a park. He said another teen, Brian Scully, goaded the girl, saying, "Isn't it a little late for you to be out?"

Ramirez replied in a threatening manner in Spanish, Scully began yelling racial slurs at Ramirez and a fight ensued, Lawson said.

He said Ramirez was fighting with Donchak when Walsh ran up and punched him in the face. Ramirez fell to the ground and hit his head on the macadam, leaving him unconscious, after which Piekarsky kicked him in the head, Lawson said.

The following day, he said, the group met at Piekarsky's house and hatched a plan to lie to police about what happened.

"We made up a plan that we we're going to tell the cops that nobody kicked him, that there were no racial slurs, there was no booze, and Brian got hit first," Lawson said.

Under cross-examination, Lawson said he had been pressured by FBI agents to recant an initial, incomplete statement he gave to police in favor of a later statement.

Defense attorneys said prosecutors had failed to establish who did what.

Roger Laguna, Walsh's lawyer, said Walsh was guilty of simple assault, nothing more. He "does exactly what Mr. Ramirez was doing. He throws a punch," Laguna said. He said Ramirez was "repeatedly attacking him, and won't quit."

Ramirez, who entered the U.S. illegally about six years ago, worked in a factory and as a farm hand. Dillman, who is white and grew up in Shenandoah, has said Ramirez was often called derogatory names and told to return to his homeland. The couple had two children together.

After the hearing, Dillman said she was pleased that Ramirez's attackers will stand trial.

"It's been a really hard day for me, and I'm just really happy that the charges stuck," she said.

The maximum sentence for third-degree murder in Pennsylvania is 20 to 40 years in prison.

As the hearing got under way, about 40 protesters outside the courthouse in Pottsville began yelling, prompting a defense attorney to complain about the distraction. The protesters, from workers' and immigrants' rights groups, were ordered to keep quiet or be forced to move. The hearing was recessed for several minutes until the protesters quieted down.