• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD
You are here: Home / News / Gay Puerto Rican Teen Decapitated, Dismembered, and Burned

Gay Puerto Rican Teen Decapitated, Dismembered, and Burned

November 16, 2009 by Andy Towle

Cayey

Over the weekend the brutalized body of gay teen George Steven Lopez Mercado was found by the side of a road in Puerto Rico. The police investigator suggested that he deserved what he got because of the "type of lifestyle" he was leading.

Mercado According to an iReport by Chrisopher Pagan: "On November 14 the body of a gay 19 year old was found a few miles away from the town in which he was residing in called Caguas. He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved. He was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso.

This has caused a huge reaction from the gay community here, but its a difficult situation. Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime. Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico. The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that 'people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen'. As If the boy murdered Jorge Steven Lopez was asking to get killed…"

Jorge Here's a report on the murder (in Spanish) from PrimeraHora.com. Said activist Pedro Julio Serrano: "It is inconceivable that the investigating officer suggests that the victim deserved his fate, like a woman deserves rape for wearing a short skirt. We demand condemnation of this investigator and demand that Superintendente Figueroa Sancha replace him with someone capable of investigating this case without prejudice." (my translation, please suggest a better one if you can).

UPDATE 1: Suspect arrested.

UPDATE 2: Suspect claims self defense, "gay panic".

Filed Under: News Tagged With: crime, News, Puerto Rico

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Mayer Delivers A President’s Day Address: WATCH

    Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Mayer Delivers A President’s Day Address: WATCH

    3 hours ago
  • Adam Lambert Just Announced He’s Performing With Queen At The Oscars: WATCH

    Adam Lambert Just Announced He’s Performing With Queen At The Oscars: WATCH

    6 hours ago
  • Lil’ Xan Is Having A Lil’ Baby, Marvel’s Done with Netflix, A Hot Brazilian Artist Saves Dogs, The Bronx Is Getting A Hip-Hop Museum, and More: HOT LINKS

    Lil’ Xan Is Having A Lil’ Baby, Marvel’s Done with Netflix, A Hot Brazilian Artist Saves Dogs, The Bronx Is Getting A Hip-Hop Museum, and More: HOT LINKS

    6 hours ago
  • In Wake of Gay Assault, Out Utah Senator Calls For Hate Crime Bill To Pass

    In Wake of Gay Assault, Out Utah Senator Calls For Hate Crime Bill To Pass

    8 hours ago
  • Dylan Matracia’s ‘Slow’ is a Love Letter to Queer Sex, Summer Romance, and Provincetown: WATCH

    Dylan Matracia’s ‘Slow’ is a Love Letter to Queer Sex, Summer Romance, and Provincetown: WATCH

    9 hours ago
  • Channel 4 Exposes America’s ‘Gay Cure’ Camps: WATCH

    Channel 4 Exposes America’s ‘Gay Cure’ Camps: WATCH

    9 hours ago
  • Mike Pence ‘Greetings from Donald Trump’ Met with Humiliating, Deafening Silence at European Speech: WATCH

    Mike Pence ‘Greetings from Donald Trump’ Met with Humiliating, Deafening Silence at European Speech: WATCH

    9 hours ago
  • Young, Gay, Latinos Left Behind In The Battle Against HIV In the Bronx

    Young, Gay, Latinos Left Behind In The Battle Against HIV In the Bronx

    10 hours ago
  • Shawn Mendes Fills Calvin Klein’s Iconic Briefs in Break-The-Internet Underwear Campaign

    Shawn Mendes Fills Calvin Klein’s Iconic Briefs in Break-The-Internet Underwear Campaign

    12 hours ago
  • Trump Melts Down Over ’60 Minutes’ Andrew McCabe Revelations: WATCH

    Trump Melts Down Over ’60 Minutes’ Andrew McCabe Revelations: WATCH

    13 hours ago

Keep up with Provincetown:

Follow @PtownHacks on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and sign up for the Ptown Hacks email list.

Footer

Copyright © 2019 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in