Hate crime and murder charges have been filed against a New York City parks worker in the fatal July shooting of a Venezuelan migrant , a crime prosecutors described as “premeditated and cold-blooded.”
Elijah Mitchell, a 23-year-old temporary worker for the New York City Parks Department, was indicted Wednesday on charges of second-degree murder as a hate crime, second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree menacing as a hate crime, and second-degree menacing, according to a statement from Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
Mitchell is accused of gunning down Arturo Jose Rodriguez Marcano in July at Brooklyn’s Stueben Playground, three days after he allegedly threatened the 30-year-old migrant with a handgun during an argument at the park, Gonzalez said in his statement.
“This defendant allegedly came to the location where the victim was staying, armed with a gun, to settle a score,” Gonzalez said in the statement. “This premeditated and cold-blooded homicide is outrageous on many levels, not least because the alleged motive was hatred towards new arrivals to our city.”…