NYC park worker charged with hate crime after shooting migrants, Brooklyn prosecutor says

A New York City parks worker was charged with hate crime murder on Wednesday after being accused of shooting a Venezuelan migrant who was sleeping in a Brooklyn playground last month.

“This defendant allegedly came armed to the location where the victim was staying to settle a score,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “This premeditated and cold-blooded murder is egregious on many levels, not least because the alleged motive was hatred toward newcomers to our city.”

The indictment says 23-year-old Elijah Mitchell of Corona, Queens, killed 30-year-old Arturo Jose Rodriguez Marcano because he was angry that migrants like Marcano were at the Steuben Playground in Clinton Hill.

The attack was part of a chaotic night that included two other fatal shootings nearby. NYPD officials initially told Gothamist they believed both incidents were linked to immigrant gangs, but police have not yet released any information suggesting the shootings are gang-related.

On July 18, Mitchell was working his shift at the park, which is just a block from two migrant shelters that house nearly 4,000 people, when he began “screaming and tearing down tarps,” prosecutors said.

Marcano reportedly confronted Mitchell, who walked to a vehicle and allegedly returned to show a gun in his waistband. He was pulled away by other park employees, the statement said. Park management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mitchell allegedly returned to the park three nights later when he was not working, found Marcano and shot him in the chest. Marcano was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital and Mitchell fled the scene in his car, prosecutors said.

Just minutes later, two more migrants were shot near the Ryerson Street shelter. Enny DeJesus Urbina Mendez, 21, and Francisco Fuentes Rangel, 59, both succumbed to their injuries. Police later charged 26-year-old Jorge Said Benitez Villa over the incident.

The shootings heightened fears among both migrants and residents about their safety in the neighborhood. Some of the migrants who spoke to Gothamist outside the shelter the next day said their time in city shelters was up and they had no choice but to sleep in the park. Residents said they were concerned about the quality of life issues they felt had been created by the large concentration of new arrivals.

Mitchell was arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun, who set bail at $350,000 cash and $2.5 million surety. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Gonzalez said in a statement that his office would “vigorously pursue this horrific case.”

“These aggravated charges send a strong message that hate crimes will never be tolerated in Brooklyn,” he said.

Mitchell's lawyer was not immediately available for comment.