Results tagged “ilyashurov”

A year after Michael Sandy was lured to a parking lot at Plumb Beach in Brooklyn under the pretense of a sexual encounter and then killed in an attempted robbery, the spot on Sheepshead Bay continues to be a place where men congregate for furtive homosexual encounters. John Fox and Anthony Fortunato were both convicted last week of manslaughter as a hate crime in the death of Sandy, who was struck by a car on the Belt Parkway, where Fox and Ilya Shurov chased him. The violent crime doesn't seem to be deterring the men who still sit by themselves in their cars, smoking and waiting––for what isn't entirely clear. The New York Times sent a reporter to observe the scene in the parking lot Friday night. He approached one of the cars and the driver said he had heard of Sandy's death and the parking lot's reputation, but that wasn't why he was there. Nonetheless, the older gentleman drove off with a younger man who approached his car soon thereafter. A perfunctory search of gay cruising sites indicates that Plumb Beach is still a popular site for meetings. One site rated the rest stop parking lot as 3 ("Average") out of 5 for safety and 5 ("Hot!") out of 5 for action [Warning: site page contains graphic images].

John Fox was found guilty of manslaughter in the killing of Michael Sandy. Fox was convicted on charges of a hate crime and manslaughter, but not murder, for chasing Michael Sandy onto the Belt Parkway where he was fatally struck by a car. Three men are on trial for Sandy's killing: John Fox, Ilya Shurov, and Michael Fortunato. A fourth man, Michael Timmins, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony. Fox was being tried alongside Fortunato, albeit with separate juries. Fortunato's defense involves a claim that his innocence is tied to his newly-announced gay status.

Accused murderer Michael Fortunato is pinning his hopes of exoneration by baring his soul on the stand and revealing that he was an until-now closeted gay person. In the opening statements of the trial, the lawyer for Michael Fortunato––the purported ringleader of the three men charged––stated that his client was not guilty of a hate crime murder against a gay man because he himself was gay. Michael Sandy was attacked by a group of men near Plumb Beach in Brooklyn, after arranging a meeting over an online site for gay men. Fleeing his attackers, Sandy was chased on to the Belt Parkway where he was struck by a car and later removed from life support.

The claim that Anthony Foturnato, one of three men on trial for hate crime murder of a gay man, was gay himself was not only strange to most everyone - it was apparently mysterious to the judge as well! Fortunato, Ilya Shurov John Fox, and Michael Timmins had lured Michael Sandy to meet them at a secluded location in Sheepshead Bay, via a gay chatroom, in 2006. Once there, they robbed and beat Sandy, who ran into the Belt Parkway and was hit by a car. Fortunato, Shurov and Fox were charged with murder as a hate crime; Timmins agreed to a plea deal in return for testifying against the others.

One of the defendants accused of murdering Michael Sandy as part of a hate crime a year ago is now claiming that he is innocent because he himself is a gay man. Michael Fortunato is on trial for the murder of Michael Sandy after he and three friends arranged to meet him in a secluded spot in Sheepshead Bay for a gay tryst. Instead, they ambushed the 29-year-old Williamsburg man who, fleeing his attackers, ran onto the Belt Parkway and was struck by a car and died five days later. The youngest of the four men involved in the attack, Michael Timmins, is 17 years old and pleaded guilty in exchange for his testimony against the other three men, Fortunato, Ilya Shurov and John Fox.

The three men accused of murdering Michael Sandy as part of a hate crime last year appeared in a Brooklyn courthouse yesterday. According to The New York Times, they struck humble poses––wearing ill-fitting suits and displaying good manners to courtroom personnel––that belie the joking manner they treated the alleged murder of a man chased onto the Belt Parkway, where he was struck by a car. The youngest of the four men accused in the crime, 17-year-old Gary Timmins, already pleaded guilty to attempted robbery as a hate crime and agreed to testify against Anthony Fortunato, Ilya Shurov and John Fox, who are now charged with murder as a hate crime, which carries a relatively stiffer penalty than simply murder.

Supreme Court Justice Jill Konviser has ruled that the three men charged in the murder of Michael Sandy can be charged with murder as a hate crime. Last October, Anthony Fortunato, John Fox, and Ilya Shurov had lured Michael Sandy through a gay chat room to meet them near the Belt Parkway. When Sandy arrived, they robbed and beat him, causing him to flee into the highway and get hit by a car. Sandy was critically injured and after many days, his family decided to turn take him off life support.

Last October, the Brooklyn DA's office charged three men with murder as a hate crime after a gay man they had lured, beat, robbed and chased into traffic died from his injuries. But now the trio's lawyers claim that it was not a hate crime, but a crime of opportunity.

Three men were indicted yesterday for murder and attempted robbery as hate crimes in the Belt Parkway death of Michael Sandy. Ilya Shurov, Anthony Fortunato, and John Fox are accused of going to a gay chat room and asking Sandy to meet them at Plum Beach off the Belt Parkway. There, the three men are suspected of robbing and beating Sandy, who then ran to the highway and was hit by a car. Sandy lay brain dead in a coma for a few days until his family decided to take him off the life support. The Brooklyn DA's office explained how the incident could be classified as a hate crime:

Typically, according to state law, Hate Crimes are charged when prosecutors believe the defendants acted out of bias against the victims’ race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation. But the less used section of the law calls for Hate Crimes to be charged when the defendant “intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is committed or intended to be committed based on a belief about those same factors.

Continue reading "Three Charged with Murder as Hate Crime "

Three Brooklyn men, ages 16-20, were charged with hate crimes in the beating of Michael Sandy. Police believe that John Fox, Ilya Shurov, and Gary Timmins met Sandy online and lured him to Plumb Beach, an area off the Belt Parkway, with the intention of robbing him - because Sandy was gay. While setting up the meeting, they asked him to bring enough money for a hotel room. From the NY Post:

Fox then lured him to a spot by the parkway, where the suspect and three friends allegedly robbed and beat Sandy, whom they considered "an easy mark" because he is gay, police said.

Continue reading "Belt Parkway Attack Deemed Hate Crime"