3rd defendant pleads guilty to assault, hate crime charges in fatal stabbing of immigrant
By APFriday, February 19, 2010
3rd defendant pleads guilty in hate crime stabbing
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — The third of seven Long Island teenagers implicated in the 2008 stabbing death of an Ecuadorean immigrant has pleaded guilty for his role in the attack.
Kevin Shea, who is 18, pleaded guilty Friday in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead to gang assault and hate crime charges.
He admitted being with a group of teenagers who confronted Ecuadorean immigrant Marcelo Lucero (mar-SEHL’-oh loo-SEHR’-oh) and another friend near the Patchogue (PACH’-awg) train station. Lucero was fatally stabbed in the chest.
Prosecutors contend Lucero’s death was the culmination of an ongoing campaign by the teens targeting Hispanic immigrants for violence. After the killing, the U.S. Justice Department opened an investigation into hate crimes in Suffolk County and police response to them.
