New York Local News

EAST PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (CBS) ― A crowd of at least 500 people gathered Friday night at the spot in East Patchogue on Long Island where Ecuadorean immigrant Marcelo Lucero was attacked and killed in what appears to have been a bias crime.

The candles were lit around 7 p.m. as a misty rain fell and people were just getting news that a Suffolk County grand jury handed down a sealed indictment in connection with the murder. Seven local teenagers are jailed, six for gang assault and one for murder as a hate crime, but the new indictment will supersede the old charges. The seven high school students will face a judge Tuesday when the indictment is unsealed.

At the rally called by various immigration and civil rights organizations, Long Islanders seemed drawn by a sense of outrage and shame. Ray Brennan of Middle Island said he came just to stand side-by-side with the Ecuadoreans living in the area regardless of their immigration status.

"We have to stop the violence," he said, "and we are here to honor a decent man who didn't deserve to have something like this happen to him."

The police said the seven students from Patchogue-Medford High School got together with the intention of "beating up Mexicans," meaning recent Hispanic immigrants, and piled out their vehicle confronting Lucero and another man who got away. During the fight that followed one of the seven, 17-year-old Jeff Conroy allegedly plunged a knife into the victim's chest.

Kathy Reoder, a mother who lives near the scene of the murder brought her little boy to the rally. She said her mission is simple: "I want my son to know that nobody's better than anyone else, that we're all the same."

People continued to arrive at the rally for an hour after it started, filling the intersection of Railroad and Sephton avenues near the Patchogue train station and spilling back onto both streets. Some people even climbed up on the second story roof of a nearby house holding banners. A number of clergy people were evident in the crowd. Sister Pat Koehler, a Catholic nun from Roslyn, said she felt she had to be present.

"I didn't want to sit at home and make it just another day," she told CBS 2 HD. "This is a tragedy for Long Island."

But Noel Cordero said it's a tragedy that was waiting to happen. He said anti-immigrant sentiment has been festering.

"I think it's been going on for a while," Cordero said, "and we're not getting any help from the politicians."

Suffolk County legislators, in fact, have been taking heat along with County Executive Steve Levy for backing tough enforcement of immigration laws. Levy even apologized for suggesting Lucero's death had been "blown out of proportion," for political purposes.

Adding to the tension is more indication that the attack on Lucero wasn't an isolated event. Hector Sierra told CBS 2 HD's Pablo Guzman that elements of the same gang charged in connection with the Lucero killing attacked him minutes earlier in Patchogue, piling out of an SUV and chasing him down a street.

At the Friday night rally there were even vocal opponents of illegal immigration who said they wanted to show their disgust at the attacks. Mike Girardo of Centereach stood in the candle-lit crowd and said, "I'm opposed to illegal immigration, but I don't want them to go home the way Marcelo is going. I'm opposed to violence. I just want our government to enforce our laws."

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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