(From l.) Jesse Harris, 18, David Harris, 19, and Austin Taggart, 18, have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Onesimo Marcelino Lopez-Ramos.
A group of Florida teens could face hate crime charges stemming from a murder they committed during a “game” where they targeted Hispanic immigrants to rob, police in Jupiter said.
Onesimo Marcelino Lopez-Ramos, 18, was found dead, his head bashed in white a large white rock, early April 18, cops said.
Three teens, David Harris, 19, Austin Taggart, 19 and Jesse Harris, 18, allegedly targeted Lopez-Ramos in a game of “Guat hunting,” during which the hatemongers stalked and robbed people of Guatemalan descent, according to an arrest report.
"The suspects in this case specifically targeted members of our Hispanic community, they sought them out and this young man was ultimately killed as this crime unfolded," Jupiter Police Chief Frank Kitzerow said at a news conference, according to WPBF-TV.
The Harris brothers and Taggart were arrested Friday and charged with murder and three counts of robbery. The case will eventually be forward to the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office, which will ultimately decide whether to pursue the murder as a hate crime.
Lopez-Ramos, a friend and his brother were standing outside a friend’s house drinking and chatting when a group of five men showed up. The conversation quickly soured before one of the men used a rock to bash Lopez-Ramos in the head, the Sun Sentinel reported.
The victim’s brother ran off and called cops. When he returned to the scene, his brother was dead.
After the murder, David Harris, who had blood on his hands, told Taggart he’d been “Guat hunting” as he laughed, WPBF reported.
"They were looking for blood, specifically Mexican blood," Assistant District Attorney Megan O'Donnell told jurors at the trial for Jeffrey Conroy in Riverhead. "The hunt was on."
Conroy, the only one of the seven to go to trial, was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced in May 2010 to 25 years in prison.
He was 19 years old at the time and confessed to taunting, beating and stabbing dry cleaner Marcelo Lucero, 37, after roaming around Patchogue looking for someone dark-skinned to attack on Nov. 8, 2008.
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