NYC parks employee charged with hate crime murder in shooting of migrant

BROOKLYN – The New York City Parks Department employee who allegedly shot and killed a Venezuelan migrant in Steuben Park last month now faces murder charges for a hate crime.

Seasonal worker Elijah Mitchell, 23, of Queens, has been charged with, among other things, murder as a hate crime.

According to prosecutors, the victim, 30-year-old Arturo Jose Rodriguez Marcano, was sleeping in a tent in the Brooklyn park where Mitchell worked.

Arturo Jose Rodriguez Marcano. (GoFundMe)

Investigators say Mitchell was cleaning the park for work and then went on a rampage, yelling and tearing down tarps because he was angry that migrants were there. This led to an argument between the two during which Mitchell allegedly displayed a gun in his waistband.

Arturo Jose Rodriguez Marcano slept in a tent in Steuben Park where Elijah Mitchell worked, prosecutors say.

Three days later, investigators said, Mitchell returned and shot Marcano in the chest.

In a statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said: “The defendant allegedly arrived at the victim's location armed with a gun to settle a score. This premeditated and cold-blooded murder is outrageous on many levels, not least because the alleged motive was hatred toward newcomers to our city.”

Seasonal worker Elijah Mitchell, 23, of Queens, has been charged with, among other things, murder as a hate crime.

Mitchell pleaded not guilty at a court hearing Wednesday. The indictment charges him with second-degree murder as a hate crime, second-degree murder, illegal possession of a weapon, menacing as a hate crime and uttering a threat. Bail was set at $350,000 cash or $2.5 million surety bond and he was ordered to appear in court on October 23.

Mitchell's public defender did not immediately respond to an email Wednesday, and no one answered the phone at the public defender's office late in the afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.