Elliot Morales (Steven Hirsch)
The “faggot” had it coming, a homophobic ex con boasted after last month’s shocking, gay hate crime slay of Mark Carson, 32, according to a sickeningly flippant confession released today.
“Guy thought he was tough in front of his bitch so I shot him. Diagnosis is dead, doctor,” Elliot Morales heartlessly told cops shortly after the May 18th, West Village murder, according to court papers released as he pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Morales – hands shackled behind his back – sat stone faced at the defense table as he entered his plea. He wore a white t-shirt and sweats and spoke only the words, “Not guilty.”
In addition to a top count of second-degree murder as a hate crime, Morales, 33, is charged with menacing a police officer.
After Morales fled the scene, a cop spotted him on West 3rd Street and demanded he stop. He then drew the same silver Taurus .380-caliber he allegedly used to kill Carson and pointed it at the officer. After the drunken thug fumbled with his weapon, the cop was able to tackle it from him, according to court papers.
When Morales sobered up later that morning, he claimed not to recall the shooting or taunting Carson and his pal as the duo walked down Sixth Avenue near West Eight Street around midnight. “Look at these faggots. What are you, gay wrestlers?” he allegedly barked before blasting Carson in the cheek.
In a rambling statement to cops after the alleged murder, Morales bizarrely claimed he wasn’t homophobic..
“I don’t have a problem with gay people. I have lots of gays in my life,” he said.
He also ranted and raved about his “crack head” sister and dysfunctional parents. “I never met my father. The rumor is my father is my uncle, my mother’s sister’s husband,” he whined to a detective at the 6th Precinct.
Manhattan DA Cy Vance decried the fatal shooting in a statement announcing the indictment. “Bias-related crimes have no place in New York City. By instilling fear, hate crimes tear at the very fabric of our communities,” he said.
Morales is being held at Rikers without bail. In 1999 Morales was charged with attempted murder and pleaded down to robbery in the first degree.