(Syracuse, New York) A 20-year-old man is charged with the unprovoked murder of a Syracuse man in what police say was a hate crime.
Moses Cannon, 20, was sitting in a car with his brother Mark, 18, about to enter a party they had been invited to by an acquaintance.
Before they could get out of the vehicle, guests at the party came outside the house and began yelling homophobic epithets at them.
Syracuse Police Chief Gary Miguel said that one of the guests, Dwight DeLee, went into the residence and returned with a 22-caliber rifle.
Miguel said DeLee then put the rifle to the driver’s side window of that vehicle and fired one round.
“And that one round strikes Mark Cannon in the arm, and continues on and strikes Moses Cannon in the chest area,” Miguel told local cable news station News 10.
According to Miguel, DeLee fired at the brothers because Moses Cannon was gay.
Moses Cannon, stepped out of the party when the Cannons arrived and shot Moses, who identified as female and was known as to friends and family as 'Teish', point-blank with a 22-caliber rifle. Both Cannon siblings are gay Mark was grazed by the bullet and Teish was killed.
“Our suspect took a rifle and shot and killed this person, wounding also his brother, for the sole reason that he didn’t care for the sexual preference of our victim. And isn’t that sad?” Miguel told the station.
Despite being shot, Mark Cannon was able to drive the car to the family’s home as his brother lay bleeding heavily in the front passenger seat.
Moses Cannon died a short while later.
DeLee was arrested on Sunday and charged with second-degree murder. At his arraignment on Monday, he pleaded not guilty. The district attorney’s office said it may add a hate crime charge prior to trial.
“I’m hurt. Angry, upset. Am I mad at the kid? Yes. Mostly, I’m upset with society. How do we let our kids get this angry this young? This was hatred,” Albert Cannon, Moses Cannon’s father told News 10.
*with files from 365Gay News Center Staffand Towler Road
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