An 18-year-old high school graduate was beaten and stomped to death at a party in Queens this weekend by four party crashers who were allegedly yelling anti-gay slurs. However, friends testify that victim Anthony Collao had a girlfriend and was not gay. The party was thrown by two gay men, but the four assailants reportedly did not discriminate when it came to picking fights.
Suspects Alex Velez, 16, Nolis Ogando, Christopher Lozada and Luis Tabales, all 17, reportedly refused to pay the $7 cover charge to the Woodhaven birthday party on Saturday, and quickly began picking fights, busting windows and scrawling anti-gay slurs on the walls. "They called us homos and all kinds of stuff," said one man celebrating his 20th birthday. Coallo reportedly fled in his car with a friend, but the suspects followed him and beat him up. Velez reportedly used a pipe, and Collao was on life support until yesterday.
Lozada was reportedly wearing Collao's baseball cap when he was apprehended, and all four were covered in blood. They were arraigned on chargers of manslaughter and assault and held on bail ranging from 100,000 to $200,000. However, Ognado's aunt claims, "He has chronic anemia and weighs like 80 pounds. He is not a gangbanger. This is not Nolis, this is not him." One of Collao's friends said, "I hope they go away for the rest of their lives, but that won't bring him back." Recently, Queens' Daniel Rodriguez was sentenced to 12 years in prison for beating a gay man.
