7 Teens in Hate-Slay Case Indicted in Another Assault

7 Teens in Hate-Slay Case Indicted in Another Assault
By ERIK GERMAN newsday.com
November 20, 2008
The seven Patchogue-Medford High School students charged in the death of Ecuadorean immigrant Marcelo Lucero were indicted Thursday on an additional hate crime charge in connection with an earlier attack that night, authorities said.One student charged in connection with the crime, Jeffrey Conroy, 17, who police said fatally stabbed Lucero, is expected to face upgraded charges of second-degree murder as early as next week, authorities said.Conroy, of Medford, still faces his initial charge of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime.The indictment, unsealed Thursday at the suspects' arraignment before Judge C. Randall Hinrichs in Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, charges all seven teens with conspiracy in Lucero's death and attempted assault second degree as a hate crime in the previous assault.
Facing new charges along with Conroy are: Jordan Dasch, 17, of Medford; Anthony Hartford, 17, of Medford; Nicholas Hausch, 17, of Medford; Christopher Overton, 16, of East Patchogue; Jose Pacheco, 17, of East Patchogue; and Kevin Shea, 17, of Medford.Prosecutors said the group drove together to Medford, looking for Hispanics to attack, and failing to find them went to downtown Patchogue. They first chased and attacked Hector Sierra but he escaped, authorities said.Sierra, 55, of Patchogue, has said he was attacked by a group of young men on a Patchogue street on the same night Lucero was fatally stabbed."They punched me twice on the side of my head, then they struck me on the back of the head, and I fell in the middle of the street," Sierra said. "They kicked me, and I thought, 'they're going to kill me.'"In addition, Hausch and Dasch were each charged with another count of second-degree assault as a hate crime after they attacked Marlon Garcia in front of his home with a BB gun earlier in the day, at about 5 a.m., prosecutors said. Garcia escaped harm.All of the suspects have pleaded not guilty to the charges.The Nov. 8 slaying of Lucero, 37, has caused outrage from Ecuador -- the victim's home country -- to Suffolk County, where County Executive Steve Levy urged "people of goodwill" to denounce intolerance.All of the defendants were originally charged with gang assault.Overton is awaiting sentencing in another case. He pleaded guilty to burglary in another fatal attack in May 2007 in which a 38-year-old East Patchogue man was shot dead when a group of teenagers robbed his home. A neighbor found the victim, Carlton Shaw, dead in his backyard, his 3-year-old son sleeping on his chest.

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