From the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times:

A homeless man died in Los Angeles after being doused with gasoline and set on fire. A police spokesman said the man, who had lived peacefully on the streets in the dense residential neighborhood for more than 20 years, was believed to have been mentally ill. An excerpt:

A man in his 20s was seen throwing gasoline on the man, chasing him, throwing more on him and running from the scene, said Deputy Chief Sergio Diaz. Scorch marks stained a wall Friday where the man was burned.

The burning horrified even officers who routinely witness violent crimes, Diaz said.

“To murder somebody who’s probably suffering from mental illness issues and not bothering anyone — just a poor wretch on the street — you’ve got to be a soulless nitwit to do something like this,” he said.

Related story from the Associated Press: Ten years after the murder of Matthew Shepard, there is no federal hate crime legislation extending to sexual orientation or disability. A bill that passed the U.S. House last year would have extended existing hate crime law to include sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability.

See also: Cruel end for LA homeless man — Los Angeles Times

(Danette Kuoch lights a candle at a makeshift shrine where the man was killed; Los Angeles Times photo)

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 12th, 2008 at 3:41 pm and is filed under disabilities, hate crimes, law, law enforcement, mental health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post