Source: Syracuse Post-Standard, News 10 Now, WSYR
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Family, friends and community members gathered to remember Moses Cannon, 22, Monday. Cannon identified as a woman and was known as "Teish".
"We should be concerned and outraged that this happened, but I think we need to look deeper at the roots of where this hatred comes from," said Syracuse University LGBT Resource Center Director Adrea Jaehnig, according to News10.
Jaehnig says if the evidence points toward a hate crime, it should prosecuted as such.
A 20-year-old Syracuse man who was arrested and charged with the shooting pleaded not guilty Monday morning to the charge.
Dwight DeLee was arraigned on a single count of second-degree murder in the Friday night killing of Cannon.
Police say it appeared Cannon was targeted because he was gay and dressed as a woman.
According to WSYR radio, DeLee is known to police. They say he has a record that includes weapons and drug charges. Police Chief Gary Miguel said it will be up to the District Attorney whether to add hate crime charges to the murder charge.
On Friday night, Cannon and his younger brother Mark drove to a party to meet up with friends, Syracuse police said. A third person was also in the car when a DeLee walked up.
Police said several people at the party were shouting slurs at the two openly gay men, News 10 Now reports.
They said DeLee fired a 22 caliber rifle into the vehicle, hitting both Moses and Mark Cannon, who were in the front seats, the report said. The bullet hit Mark in the arm and then hit Moses in the chest.
Mark Cannon, who was in the driver's seat, drove the car about 13 blocks from Seymour Street to Arthur Street, where police found them, the report said.
The Cannons were taken by ambulance to University Hospital, where Moses Cannon was pronounced dead and Mark Cannon was treated for a non-life threatening injury, Syracuse Post Standard reports. The third person in the car was not injured.
At a Saturday rally Cannon's mother told Syracuse Post Standard that her son was killed because he was gay. "This death was senseless, and I'm very angry," Roxanne Green said.
Green talked lovingly about Moses Cannon and said she accepted who he was. "That's the life he chose. That's who he wanted to be," Green said about her son.
Green said her son was very outgoing. "He got along with everybody," she said.
Pictures of Cannon in women's clothing were on display in the family's living room, and the family selected one for the Post-Standard to publish. Often when family members spoke of Cannon, they used "she" to refer to him.
Dante Haynes, who described himself as Cannon's lover, sat at the dining room table Saturday night with Cannon's parents and family. "Teish" is tattooed on his right forearm. "I loved her, too," Haynes told the Post-Standard. "She will be missed."
"Teish was loving, caring and compassionate," said Rhonda Gary, Cannon's aunt. "She carried herself with respect."
They hated him because of his appearance, they didn't get to know him as a person. said Albert Cannon, Moses's father, according to WSYR radio.
Albert says his son was a wonderful person. But to most people, he was known as Teish.
"I don't call him Moses at all, I usually call him Teish. Ever since we were little, we would always dress up, we use to put on all my dresses," Moses's sister, Shacona, told WSYR.
She showed off pictures of Teish in dresses and wigs. Tamika Johnson says her brother was a very loving person.
Loved his nieces and nephews to the fullest. There is nothing he wouldn't do for his nieces and nephews, there is nothing he wouldn't do for anybody and is he could help them, he would help them," said Johnson.
But Albert Cannon says his son also loved life.
"Live each day to the fullest, that's what he did, he lived each day to the fullest," said Albert.
Green said she received a phone call at 5:30 am Saturday from a woman who claimed to know the circumstances of the killing. The caller told Green that her son was shot because the shooter objected to his sexual orientation.
Mark Cannon agrees that his brother was lured to Seymour Street. The brothers had received a call from a girl they knew. She wanted them to come to Seymour Street to talk, Mark Cannon said. He said they were still talking with the girl when the shooter walked up, according to the Post Standard.
It was Teish's friend Alyssa Davis who called Teish to come over to the house, according to News 10 Now .
Davis told News 10 Now that she wanted to be at the Monday vigil, but stayed away because she worries the family blames her for Teish's death.
"It's really killing me deep down inside because I want to be there with them and I can't, because they won't accept me," Davis said.
"I truly do not want them to think that I had something to do with this, because with them being my friends for eight years, I would never in my life put my friends in any kind of danger," said Davis.
Police believe Teish was killed because she was gay, but don't believe Teish was lured to the party, according to News 10 Now. Those at the vigil are hoping this will be a wake-up call.
"I wish people that's homophobic, like get over your phobia. People were going to be who we are and we're going to stand up to whatever we have to stand up for. You know, accept it. We here and we're not going anywhere," Syracuse resident Robert Everson told News 10 Now.
According to the police, it will be up to the district attorney's office to determine if the murder is a hate crime, News 10 Now reports.
Source: Vigil held for possible hate crime victim | News 10 Now
DeLee pleads not guilty | News 10 Now
Mother: Gay son targeted by killer | Syracuse Post-Standard
Syracuse Man Charged with the City's Latest Homicide in Court | WSYR