ccording to an iReport by Chrisopher Pagan: "On November 14 the body of a gay 19 year old was found a few miles away from the town in which he was residing in called Caguas. He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved. He was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso. This has caused a huge reaction from the gay community here, but its a difficult situation. Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime. Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico. The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that 'people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen'. As If the boy murdered Jorge Steven Lopez was asking to get killed..."

http://www.towleroad.com/...urned.html
[Edited 11/16/09 21:58pm]

Tragic, I hope the monsters that did this pay.


as far as "The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that 'people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen'"


I am not sure how to take that. On its face it sounds like victim blaming. Yet, the message is one that may need to be expressed in a manner closer to "be careful and be aware."

I would warn anyone to be careful and more aware of their surroundings. Do not be out alone. Do not assume an area, no matter how well you know it or oh often you go there, to be safe.

I think the message should be "be afraid if you murder a gay person because you will get the death penalty!"

Poor kid

Ya know, you read Imago's thread about how homosexuality is just part of the day-to-day in Thailand and then you read this...

RIP kid and I hope they find the perps!

It would not surprise me at all if a family member did this to him. My cousin killed himself for fear of having his father find out he was gay. Homophobia is rampant in my family. It may be the same in the close knit communities of the island, and the crime there is soaring. Violent crimes are happening so much people are fleeing because many young men are dying. Its crazy.

ehuffnsd said:

oh yes,its natural law that when your gay your head falls off,along with your arms and legs and you get gross skin

sounds closer to leprosy than homosexuality mr homophobic should lose his job police officer prick

That is just fucking rediculous.

Humans.....thee greatest FAIL on Earth.

nobody should have to die like that.

Geez, you'd almost think it was Jamaica.

Lammastide said:

With all the drug traffic now, I think its worse.

Lammastide said:

That's exactly what I was thinking, they are KNOWN for killing homosexuals down there while a lot of them same mofos are on the DL. The AIDS Minister of the country was abducted and killed a few years ago.

RIP George

everyone will eventually have to answer to someone. there's a special place in hell for people like that.

why Mi Gente... why?

IAintTheOne said:

Ditto.
I was just gonna say,how much it saddens me to see this happen in my homeland.

Machismo is a way of life in PR, but still... shit.

johnart said:

you're a boriqua, John? i did not know that.

it's a horrifying story.

johnart said:

johnart said:

What is going on with our people man seems like evil workin overtime

IAintTheOne said:

I don't know. This is fuckin insane.

johnart said:

yeah I am heated

http://salsa.wiredforchan...on_KEY=407
ast Friday (Nov. 13), Jorge Steven López Mercado, an openly-gay 19 year old, was found murdered in a wooded area of the town of Cayey in Puerto Rico. Steven's body was decapitated, dismembered, and burned. The local police investigator went on the Spanish-language channel Univisión and said about Steven:

"Este tipo de personas cuando se meten a esto y salen a la calle saben que esto les puede pasar."

I speak Spanish fluently, so let me give you a rough translation:

"Someone like that, who does those kind of things, and goes out in public, knows full well that this might happen to him."

Excuse me?

We have no way of yet knowing conclusively whether or not this horrible murder was motivated by anti-gay bias. But when the local police investigator says that a teenager should have expected to be decapitated for being gay, clearly we are not going to find out the facts unless impartial law enforcement gets involved.

This case is a perfect example of why federal hate crimes law exists. To enable the federal government (the FBI under the Department of Justice) to investigate local crimes for violations of federal civil rights laws, especially when local law enforcement refuses to do its job.

Please join us in sending an email message to Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI Director Robert Mueller, asking them to investigate whether a hate crime was committed against Jorge Steven López Mercado.

Thank you.


click the link the form letter is all ready made just fill in the info and click enter

Today, the paper Primera Hora reports that a 28-year-old man has been arrested as a suspect in the murder and and two vehicles have been seized as evidence. The man is scheduled to be questioned today. The paper reports that the man was targeted after extensive interviews with Mercado's friends in the town of Caguas, where Mercado was living. They report that the man offered Mercado money for sex. Harry Rodriguez of the FBI said the agency is monitoring the case, and is willing to provide assistance, if necessary, in the investigation with regard to DNA evidence. Said Rodriguez: "The FBI is monitoring this investigation with the police of Puerto Rico because there are federal statutes under the laws of civil rights violations covered by hate crimes." Allegations of homophobia against the investigating officer Angel Rodriguez, who suggested that Mercado deserved what he got because of the "type of lifestyle" he was leading, were dismissed by the supervising officer Jose Figueroa Sanchez. They were, however, condemned by Executive Director of the Civil Rights Commission Vance Thomas, who said: "In addition to investigating, administrative charges must be filed. I know of no context in which an officer can justify that a person ought to be killed."

A man in custody in Puerto Rico for the heinous murder of a teenage boy is claiming he thought the boy was a woman, and police say he's likely to use the "homosexual panic" defense in his trial for the murder, arguing temporary insanity.

The victim, Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, 19, was brutally dismembered, beheaded, and burned when his body was found this past Saturday.

Jennifer Vanasco at 365gay.com, going by a report on El Nuevo Dia.com, reports that the suspect, Juan Antonio Martinez Matos, 26, who is married and father of four children, says he was cruising the "red light" district in Caguas looking for women.

The police report says, “After being rejected by a few women, he saw Jorge dressed as a woman and asked him to go with him to the house. Apparently on the house, the suspect found out that Lopez was a man, after Lopez made sexual advantages, and as a result of the rage, he did what he did."

Once the two were at his home, Matos, noticing that his companion was a man, came a discussion, during which the Mercado requested money, which was denied. At that point, Matos pulled a knife, grabbed the boy, and buried [it] in his neck. The next day, In the courtyard of the apartment building was found a wig, a burned mattress, burned PVC pipe, and a knife. There were blood stains on the walls of the apartment.

Following the arrest, activists from local LGBT community have reiterated their call for the police to charge the crime as one motivated by hatred. However, so far, no details have been settled as to what the actual charges will be against Matos.

Local gay rights activist Pedro Juliuo Serrano said,

"Even if you blanket the presumption of innocence, it is encouraging that a suspect has been arrested for committing such a heinous crime. We recognize, first of all, the work of the police who investigated this horrific killing quickly. We hope the investigation proves ultimately whether this murder was committed by the sexual orientation bias of George Steven and if so, is prosecuted as a hate crime, with the full weight of law."

The human rights defender has asked not to divert attention to the circumstances in which this murder occurred and not prosecute the victim, but the criminal who committed the crime.

Since the body was found, the FBI has been investigating. Following the arrest of Mercado, LGBT activists in Puerto Rico have reiterated their call for the police to treat the murder as a hate crime. So far, however, the police have not detailed what charges Mercado will face.

"By recognizing the work of the press who gave voice and treated the story with sensitivity here, we ask that even though they may or may not be circumstances in which the murder occurred, do not divert attention from what is really important - a 19-year-old lost his life to be cruelly murdered by someone who had no compassion, even the slightest sensitivity to human dignity. . Here we have to investigate, prosecute and give him his due process under criminal law. We cannot allow the prosecution in any way of a victim who no longer lives and who cannot defend himself, said Serrano

http://www.examiner.com/e...ic-defense

OnlyNDaUsa said:

The words "people who lead this type of lifestyle" are all you need. Those are code words for "God hates fags." This asshole should not be handling this case.

this world...

Very sad


Smooches;)

i can't even imagine .....why.....other than ignorance and religion.