3 Pa. teens charged in immigrant's murder
PORT CARBON, Pa. (AP) - July 25, 2008 Taunts ensued. One youngster threw a punch, knocking Ramirez to
the ground, while another followed with a kick to the head,
authorities said Friday, when they charged three teens in the death
of the farmhand and factory worker.
Brandon J. Piekarsky, 16, and Colin J. Walsh, 17, were charged
as adults with homicide and ethnic intimidation. Derrick M.
Donchak, 18, was charged with aggravated assault and ethnic
intimidation.
More charges are expected in the case that has roiled
Shenandoah, the small, economically depressed town where the attack
occurred and police have reported friction between whites and a
growing Hispanic population.
"As a result of this crime, a young man has lost his life, many
other lives have been devastated, and the borough of Shenandoah has
been filled with tensions between many ethnic groups," Schuylkill
County District Attorney James Goodman said.
Ramirez, who was in the country illegally, was beaten July 12
during the confrontation in a park. Authorities said the suspects
used ethnic slurs during the fight, but declined to say whether
Ramirez's ethnicity was the motive.
The suspects, all Shenandoah residents, played football at
Shenandoah Valley High School; Donchak, now enrolled at Bloomsburg
University, was the quarterback last season. He declined comment
after the arraignment, but lawyers for Piekarsky and Walsh said
there was no evidence to support the homicide charges.
According to a police affidavit, the defendants and three
17-year-olds were drinking alcohol in a wooded area of Shenandoah,
then went to a block party sponsored by the borough's Polish
American Fire Co. After leaving the party around 11 p.m., the group
walked toward a park, where they encountered Ramirez and a teenage
girl.
The youths goaded Ramirez and the girl, saying, "You should get
out of this neighborhood" and "Get your Mexican boyfriend out of
here," documents said. After Ramirez and the girl began walking
away, someone yelled an ethnic slur at him, court documents said.
He responded, "What's your problem?"
A fight ensued, during which police said Walsh punched Ramirez
in the face. The victim fell and hit his head on the street,
leaving him unconscious, after which Piekarsky kicked him in the
head, police said.
The suspects fled the scene; Ramirez underwent surgery but died
about 30 hours later.
Ramirez had come to the U.S. six years ago to find work.
Crystal Dillman, his 24-year-old fiancee, who is white and grew
up in Shenandoah, said Friday that Ramirez was walking her sister
to a friend's house the night of the attack.
"He was just trying to be a good person, making sure she got
(there) safe," said Dillman, adding she was relieved the charges
include ethnic intimidation.
She says Ramirez was often called derogatory names, including
"dirty Mexican," and told to return to his homeland. Similar
insults have been hurled at their children, ages 2 and 11 months,
she said.
"I plan on moving out of this town as fast as I can. Not
because I'm scared. I just don't want to see my children have to
deal with what their father dealt with," Dillman said.
Following the arraignment, lawyers for Piekarsky and Walsh said
their clients are not guilty and that they would try to have the
case removed to juvenile court.
Roger Laguna, Walsh's lawyer, said the police affidavit "pretty
much describes chaos, and what you have then after the fact is
somebody trying to sort through that and attribute certain acts to
certain individuals."
He said that although slurs might have been used, the fight was
not motivated by ethnicity.
"I think any time there's a fight and any time you have one
ethnic group fighting another, there's going to be racial slurs,"
he said. "I've seen that since I was a kid on a playground 20
years ago, but they never called it ethnic intimidation until very
recently."
Frederick Fanelli, Piekarsky's lawyer, said he is "surprised
and disappointed" that his client faces a homicide charge,
attributing Ramirez's death to a "street fight that ended
tragically."
Goodman said a fourth teen will be charged as a juvenile with
aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation and that charges also
will be filed against a man who provided alcohol to the defendants
hours before the attack.
Piekarsky and Walsh were detained without bail. Donchak was held
in lieu of $75,000 bond.
Preliminary hearings for all three suspects were scheduled for
Aug. 4.
