honestly..i feel weird typing thiss..because i knew Travis personally..buh it was a stupid move they shouldnt have done..the poor guy is dead now..his family is in pain..nd so are me nd my friends for losin contact wit someone we got close with..[meaning travis]

I feel no sympathy for these "ignorant teens" There is now a heartbroken wife without a husband and two children without a father. What is sick is the fact that they used his own cell phone to call his wife. What was their intent there? They are animals because they lack morality and value another life, regardless of whether or not the victim was of a different race.

I AGREE WITH MR.SANTIAGO.. I TOO AM CLOSE FRIENDS WITH THESE KIDS AND KNOW FOR A FACT THEY WOULD NEVER INTEND TO MURDER ANYONE, JUST IGNORANT TEENAGERS LOOKING FOR SOME QUICK CASH TO SMOKE SOME POT.. YES, IT IS A TRAGEDY -- BUT THEY DID NOT BEAT THE POOR MAN TO DEATH.. HE HAD A HEART CONDITION..ND YES IT WAS THEIR ACTIONS THAT LEAD TO THAT AND THEY SHOULD BE PUNISHED FOR IT BUT CALLING THEM ANIMALS AND RACIST TEENAGERS IS BS.. THEY'VE BEEN LIVING IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD WERE THERE IS A LARGE MEXICAN POPULATION AND NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS WITH ANYONE BEFORE. MOST OF THE SHIT THEY HAVE IN THE PAPER IS BS. "CUT OFF THEIR HANDS", "TORTURE THEM" -- PEOPLE LIKE U MAKE ME SICK

You can't be serious Mr. Santiago...

Youthful ignorance? Peer presure? It's this kind of lackadaisical mentality against crime that allows individuals to feel free to commit these crimes in the first place. Morality should start at home, but when that fails - as it so often does- it should end with a swift and firm punishment from our judicial system. Enough with slapping the hands of murderers, child molestors and rapists. And enough with the excuses Mr. Santiago.

I first want to say that peer pressure is something else. Betancourt is HISPANIC. Does that really make it a hate crime from his point of view. I've talked to him since the incident and he was just going along. His grandmother died the week earlier and he was getting high with his friends (if I would call them that)

I feel he should be punished for what he did, but please call it what it is - youthful ignorance. Nowadays kids believe that stuff is cool. They only find fear if they get caught, we should as a society be changing how we teach youths, so incidents like this don't happen in general.

I am appauled at the local media for not publishing the kids proper ethnicity. Although I feel the kids should be punished for what thay did, because someone lost a life, I feel this should be used to teach others as well.

This should also be a wake up call to parents, why are our children becoming increasingly immune to violence. Why do they feel they need violence to prove street-cred? They are not gang members, so my next question is why do they need street cred?

I hope my information has shed some light on the situation and people reading this could make informed judgements and look at their own lives.

Betancourt comes from a good family, who make really good money. He lives in a good community and wants for nothing, yet he made an informed decision to rob someone. My questions to you would be how many of your kids live in similar homes. Do you know what they do when they leave, and what friends are influening them? It's sad to know this is becoming the norm throughout America, rather than the exception.

A very heartbreaking story indeed. Reminds me of the Asians being attacked by white guys in Queens a week or two ago.

One thing I noticed, though, about the presentation of the stories on Gothamist is that Jen reminded us in the very second sentence of that story that it was white men that were involved.

However this story, which is very similar in nature, made no mention of the perpetrator's race even though those details were clearly available in the Daily News article that was cited. Check it out if you're curious.

I'm a fan of the site so I'm hoping this was an innocent oversight. However, if you're going to post a story with obvious racial overtones, then please post all the relevant facts so as not to appear so overtly biased or lead readers to make their own potentially incorrect conclusions.

And Fred Savage of comment #3 fame, please keep your angry garbage to yourself.

Who cries for the wife; who cries for the widow and child. Life is certainly a tragedy, of this I’m convinced. Where is she now, mentally, emotionally. Her eyes are no doubt red, swollen and burning. For this is the beginning of her nightmare.

I am usually optimistic; a polyanna,some would even say. But today I realized that beneath it all life is a tragedy. And I cried and cried and cried. First for the victim but mostly for his wife. In a perfect world we would die on a comfortable bed surrounded by our loved ones by our sides, having had the opportunity to say our goodbyes. But this man had none of that. And his poor wife must now be wondering what is these United States of America; that in the tenty-first century, the beginning of a new millenium, they lynched a Mexican. An immigrant, gathering from the stories told about him, of the best kind. And no one does anything but say that’s too bad. The is no outcry. No candlelight vigil. No media focus.

What does she now feel about her fellow Americans; only the purest of hearts would resist anger, hate, despair and confusion at a time like this.

We should all pray that tere is no revolution. This is pre-meditated murder. They sought out a man for target based on his race and ethnicity.

And before you shrug your shoulders and say what can I do, just imagine what if your boyfriend or girlfriend, husband, wife, lover, parner went out to run a quick errand and never returned home. No chance to say goodbye. And if you feel scared or remorseful, she feels a thousand times worse.

I’m not asking for a rush-to-judgement; let the legal system run its course. But please reach out to this widow and show her the true meaning of American generosity. How will she live; how will she feed her child, nevermind the tremendous loss that she must now be feeling. These sort of things should not be happening in new york, on our sacred, ‘golden’ coast. Are we not the capital of the free world and the leaders by example. Please help to transform this tragedy into a lesson of love. No one can get her husband back. But we can all at least let her know that we don’t condone what went down. Remind her of the reason that she and her husband left all they had behind to start a new life in this country.

Let’s not punt this one. Let’s make sure that our America is one that is safe for all; no one should be hunted and killed based on their country of origin and genetic make-up while we calmly sip our starbucks cappucinos and browse internet blogs.

Sorry for the detour from real estate but I think this has to be said and thanks to gothamist for breaking this story because the rest of the country seems to be either unaware or uninterested.

"bad crime." what a fucking understatement.

funny, why shouldn't anyone talk trash about staten island when it IS trash?

On Staten Island. You've proven you obviously don't know much about SI. This is a bad crime, yes, but don't talk trash about SI when you aren't even from New York at all, let alone know anything about it or have even stepped foot on SI.

how is this NOT a hate crime? They went out looking to attack a Mexican.

reason #4354 why i will never set foot in staten island.

Let's put them in prison, I'm sure there are plenty of Mexicans willing to reform these fine young men.

They should take the boys and cut off their hands - let them have some torture.

I agree with you, GilloD - sociopathic assholes pre-date even the most primitive video games.

Times like this make me think that maybe torture in some cases isn't a bad idea. These little bastards certainly deserve a taste of the pain and suffering they've inflicted.

Why is the fact that they were playing video games relevant?

this story is heart-breaking. the worst part was that.....they CALLED HIS WIFE. killing was undoubtedly a joke to them...on par with cow tipping.

they're beyond animals...send them to the electric chair...period...there's no excuse for this type of behavior or mentality. Committing a violent crime is heinous to begin with...but when it's combined with racism or prejudice that places it in another category. it's pre-meditated murder, guerilla activity.

We care because he was one of the hard workers this city seems to forget about.

He worked 80 hr weeks and worked his way up from a busboy to head cook.

i don't understand why people care that he was targeted cause he was mexican. people are targeted for crimes, solicitation, etc. all the time. it's not ideal nor perfect. but it's real. these kids should get their years in prison- end of story.

So if they murder a Mexican man for $60 and then murder Fred Savage for his iPod they should get more time in jail based on the first victim's ethnicity? I thought we were all created equal. Except when we're not.

shut up with your cracker ass politics cracker.