Pa. Teen Accuses Friends In Immigrant Slay

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CBS News/AP

A teenager testified Monday that two friends charged in the beating death of a Mexican illegal immigrant in a small Pennsylvania town punched and kicked the victim during a late-night, epithet-filled melee, then plotted to lie about it a day later.

A judge must decide if there is enough evidence against the pair and a third suspect to send the case to trial. Last month's death of Luis Ramirez has raised racial tensions in the town of Shenandoah, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia, and yelling from protesters outside the courthouse forced a brief delay of Monday's preliminary hearing.

The teenage, Ben Lawson, 17, testified that Ramirez was fighting with one of the suspects, Derrick M. Donchak, when another, Colin Walsh, sucker-punched the victim, and that a third, Brandon Piekarsky then kicked Ramirez in the head while he lay motionless in the street.

Walsh, 17, and Piekarsky, 16, were charged as adults with homicide and ethnic intimidation. Donchak, 18, was charged with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other offenses. All were football players at Shenandoah Valley High School.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/18/national/main4358445.shtml

[Lost4words]

1. Nice Kids, glad there not mine.

How does a parent deal with this kind of thing?

8643

[WriteDown]

2. I will never understand today's "gang" mentality

When I was a kid, you fought one on one and your friends just made sure that it didn't get out of hand. Now fights always consist of a gang or entourage against an individual.

edited for grammar

[AllentownJake]

10. Same as yesterday's gang mentality

The only difference was the victims were black and instead of beating them to death they hung them after they beat them.

[provis99]

3. Ramirez had a 24 year old fiance and an underage girlfriend, too?

Sounds like a nice piece of work, himself.

[WriteDown]

4. One other thing....

It appears that the underage girlfriend was his fiancee's sister. Didn't deserve to die that way though.

[alstephenson]

6. Link please?

I don't see that in the article the OP linked to.

[AllentownJake]

8. This is a more balanced article

Its from the paper in the area where I live. The girl he was walking home was his Fiance's sister. There has been no news he had a relationship with that girl. Coal Country is very racist.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-videogxrt.6521285jul26,0,7319401.story?page=2

[alstephenson]

5. I'm sorry, but where does it say that the girl he was with

was underage OR his girlfriend? The murderers said she was young. And even if he was in the park with a younger woman, that's a reason to kill him? WTF?

[AllentownJake]

9. This happened 45 miles from me

Its on the news constantly. He was walking his Fiance's sister home and 4 drunk guys jumped him. There has been alot of ethnic tension in that region between whites and hispanics the past couple years and it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

[TommyO]

12. That idiot Barletta in Hazleton didn't help matters any

with his illegal laws and anti-immigrant rhetoric. I'm in Bethlehem (for a few more months at least) and I'm well aware of the tensions through the LV and up into Hazleton and surrounding communities.

[AllentownJake]

7. The underage girl was his fiance's sister

He was walking her home.

[alstephenson]

11. Thanks for the clarification.

There were a couple of racist remarks up-thread. Talk about jumping to conclusions!