Nov 14, 2008 6:51 am US/Eastern
Hispanic Group Calling For Upgrade In Gang Charges
Hispanics Across America Wants 7 Teens Accused In Lucero Killing Tried As Adults, Charges Against Parents
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Seven high school students from Patchogue and Medford are in serious trouble, accused of participating in a racial bias attack that left aq 37-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant dead.
CBS
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Marcello Lucero, 37, was stabbed to death in what police believe to be a "brutal murder motivated by racial bias."
CBS
Demands were made Thursday for a tougher action against seven Long Island teenagers accused of hunting down and killing an immigrant from Ecuador.
Hispanic groups said the teenagers aren't the only ones responsible for what happened.
As Suffolk County's district attorney presented his case to a secreted grand jury, late Thursday Hispanic leaders met with him in Hauppauge, demanding that charges against all seven teen suspects in the gang assault of immigrant Marcello Lucero be upgraded to bias murder, and that criminal charges be pursued against their parents.
"We want to make sure that there are no mistakes made in this case," said Fernando Mateo of Hispanics Across America. "We want to make sure these kids are charged as adults, not as adolescents."
"In some ways I really feel bad for them, because they gotta pay for that," added Joselo Lucero, the victim's brother. "They come to the streets to kill my brother."
The group challenged County Executive Steve Levy to take a bolder stand against racial hatred, charging that Levy's high-profile measures against undocumented workers created hostility towards Hispanics in Suffolk County. Levy met with community leaders and presented a plan for healing.
"We need to bring people together," Levy said. "This is not the time to be engaging in political cat-fighting. It's a time to mourn."
Police say a mob of seven teenagers from Patchogue-Medford High School, led by a swastika-tattooed white supremacist, went out "looking for some Mexicans to assault." But in an exclusive interview with CBS 2 HD's Lou Young, the uncle of suspect Jose Pacheco said his bi-racial nephew doesn't have a racist bone in his body.
"For him to go along with something like this would mean that he hated himself and he doesn't," Jerry Dumas said. "He's proud of being a Puerto Rican-American; he's proud of being an African-American."
Marcello Lucero's funeral is being planned for this weekend in Patchogue. His body will then be flown home to Ecuador.
Hispanic leaders are calling on Suffolk County to establish a Spanish-speaking hotline. It would allow anyone, regardless of immigration status, to call in reports of racial assaults or threats without fear of deportation.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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