Rally planned after West Village hate crime murder

[hrmjustin]

NEW YORK -- The man who police say hurled homophobic slurs at a gay man on a Manhattan street before firing a single fatal shot to his head appeared in court Sunday to face a charge of murder as a hate crime.

Elliot Morales, who appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court, is also charged with criminal possession of a weapon and menacing, according to the complaint filed Sunday by the Manhattan district attorney's office.

Authorities said the Greenwich Village resident used a silver revolver to kill 32-year-old Mark Carson early Saturday as he walked with a companion in Morales' neighborhood.

A rally is planned for Monday night to protest a surge in bloody attacks on gay men. The march and rally starts at 5:30 p.m. on West 13th Street. The rally, 30 minutes later, will be at Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street

Read more at http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=9108630