A young gay man helping a neighbor move was beaten with a cane and called derogatory names in regards to his lifestyle, and the senior citizen who attacked and cursed him is now facing hate crime charges, as reported by the Dallas Voice and other news sites.
Using the word “faggot”, saying a man had AIDS, and then beating and choking him – have caused W.D., 71, to be criminally charged.
Allegedly W.D. was concerned that the man would transmit the AIDS virus to her son.
According to Detective T.B. with the Richland Hills police, during “issues” with his mother, W.D.’s son decided it was best to move into the home of other family members that lived next door.
While a 25-year-old neighbor began helping W.D.’s son with the move, W.D. attacked him by hitting him several times with her cane and choking him – allegedly unprovoked. Det. T.B. said “I guess she got enraged and she just started whooping him with a cane.”
Treated at the scene by police, the man suffered bruises on his body and neck.
The man’s mother came to defend her son – he refused to defend himself for fear of hurting the older woman – but she was also struck by W.D. in the melee.
When speaking to the police, W.D. allegedly referred to the victim many times as a “faggot” and announced that he had AIDS. She was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The charge is expected to be enhanced as a hate crime. Det. T.B. said, “Her statements were very biased toward sexual preference and that gave us the probable cause to file that as a hate crime.”
W.D., after being taken into custody at North Richland Hills Jail, was later released on a $11,500 bond.
The young man that was attacked, preferring to remain anonymous, was staying with his mother temporarily. The man said that his mother had asked him not to come home, for safety reasons, approximately one month earlier. When the man did return home, he rarely faced W.D.
However W.D. allegedly outed the man on the social networking site, Facebook. She posted comments about him being gay and wrote that he would eventually die due to AIDS.
The man claims that although he is gay, W.D. was not privy to that knowledge. As far as the accusations that he has AIDS, the man said that he doesn’t have the virus. He said, “I had nothing against her and from what I know she had nothing against me, but it started coming out online.”
The man, and W.D.’s son, 30, grew up as next-door neighbors.
The man chose not to fight her back during the attack because he didn’t want to “disrespect his family.” He added, “Everything in me wanted to hit her but I’m not going to give her the satisfaction of giving her something out of it.”
W.D. was visited by the police in an incident one-week prior. She had been ticketed for yelling expletives at the man’s grandfather.
The man wants W.D. to gain a lesson in not hurting other people, verbally or physically, by being charged with a hate crime. The man added, “She’s not going to make me feel bad for who I am, I’m not changing my lifestyle because someone feels I am a disgrace.”
Have you found yourself charged with a crime? Then you must take the next step – and contact a criminal defense attorney for help right away.
