Rashawn & Beyond: Anti-Violence News for Queer People of Color

The Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund aims to establish a sustainable tribute to Rashawn that promotes critical thought about the impact of violence and intolerance, particularly upon queer communities of African descent.

Through this blog, we provide action alerts, event postings and breaking news as a means of informing these communities in ways that enable them to combat racism and homophobia.

Friday, February 06, 2009

Judge Okays Evidence in 2007 Brooklyn Gay Killing

By: DUNCAN OSBORNE
Source: Gay City News

The Brooklyn district attorney can use results from a line-up and photo identification in its case against the accused killer of Roberto Duncanson, a 20-year-old gay man stabbed to death in 2007.


"I find that the photo arrays were proper, that the line-up was also proper," Judge Neil J. Firetog said on February 5 in denying a defense motion to suppress that evidence against Omar Willock, an 18-year-old who faces two counts of second-degree murder, one as a hate crime, in the killing.

Allegedly, Duncanson encountered Willock on the street in Brooklyn's Crown Heights section just before 1 a.m. on May 12. Willock, who used anti-gay slurs, accused Duncanson of looking at him. When Duncanson again passed by, a fight ensued and Willock stabbed Duncanson four times in the back, according to a 2007 statement from the district attorney.

Duncanson died roughly one hour later at Kings County Hospital.

The hearing revealed that the prosecution may have overcome what could have been a serious obstacle in the case -- Omar has an identical twin named Omari and there is just a single witness who says Omar was the killer.

On May 14, that witness, a woman, came forward and identified Omar as the killer.

Read the full story here.

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