NEW YORK – A New York City park worker accused of fatally shooting a man at a Brooklyn migrant camp has been indicted on charges including murder as a hate crime, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
Authorities allege that Elijah Mitchell, 23, of Queens, was upset because immigrants were living at the Steuben Playground, which he was assigned to clean as a temporary worker. They said he shot Arturo José Rodríguez Marcano, 30, from Venezuela, in the chest on July 21. The shooting happened three days after Mitchell and Rodríguez Marcano argued in the park, prosecutors said.
“This cold-blooded murder is horrifying on many levels, especially since the alleged motive was hate toward newcomers to our city,” said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement.
On July 18, Mitchell allegedly began yelling and tearing down a camp tarp, prosecutors said. Rodríguez Marcano confronted him and they argued, according to authorities. Mitchell then went to a vehicle and returned with a gun inside, which he showed to Rodriguez Marcano before other park employees took him away, authorities said.
Three days later, according to González, Mitchell returned to the park and shot Rodríguez Marcano, they said.
Mitchell pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court on Wednesday. He is charged in the indictment with second degree murder as a hate crime, second degree murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, menacing as a hate crime and menacing. His bail was set at $350,000 cash or $2.5 million, and he was ordered to return to court on October 23.
Mitchell’s public defender did not immediately respond to an email Wednesday, and no one answered the phone at the public defender’s office by late afternoon.
2024-08-22 04:51:07
#Parks #worker #charged #murder #NYC #NBC #York
