New york gay bar murders

A Manhattan judge sentenced three men to decades in prison Wednesday for facilitating a yearslong drug-induced robbery scheme at New York City gay bars that ultimately killed two men. Jayqwan Hamilton, 37, Jacob Barroso, 32, and Robert DeMaio, 36, were found guilty in February of murder, robbery and conspiracy in connection with the scheme, which ran from March to June Julio Ramirez, 25, a social worker, and John Umberger, 33, a political consultant, were murdered in the scheme in spring All three defendants were convicted of murdering Ramirez.

Two of them, Hamilton and DeMaio, were convicted of murdering Umberger. Hamilton and Barroso spoke at the sentencing Wednesday and maintained their innocence. Hamilton and DeMaio were sentenced to 40 years to life in prison, and Barroso was sentenced to 20 years to life. But pity will not translate into leniency in this case.

During the three-week trial, prosecutors said the trio worked together to drug and rob five men after having met them outside popular city gay bars and nightclubs. The defendants drugged the victims to the point of unconsciousness — using a concoction that included fentanyl — before they used their lifeless faces to gain access to their cellphones through facial recognition technology.

Three men behind deadly druggings that terrorized NYC's gay bars found guilty

However, I disagree with the verdict. Friends and relatives of the defendants and the two victims, including Umberger's father, who traveled from york United Kingdom, attended the hearing, sitting on opposite aisles of the courtroom, which was packed with about people. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sat gay the front row as victim statements were underway.

Carlos Ramirez told the court that his brother, Julio, was his best friend and that he had "just begun building his life" and his career as a mental health counselor. It was intentional. It was bar he said. Umberger's mother, Linda Clary, told the court that losing her son is "truly the greatest pain and worst pain in the world" and that "this was preventable and this new not have happened.

And through this tragedy, there has been so much love," Clary said in her emotional impact statement. Assistant District Attorney Meghan Hast said that after Umberger was murdered, he was left on the bed of his townhouse while Hamilton and DeMaio went on a shopping spree.

At trial, prosecutors also showed a video DeMaio and Hamilton recorded at the townhouse where Umberger was staying, celebrating near his body, on the night of the murder. Prosecutors asked the court to sentence Hamilton and DeMaio to 40 years to life in murder and Barroso to 25 years to life in prison.

Lawyers for the three defendants asked the court for more lenient sentences and noted that they all plan to appeal the convictions. No one intended to murder these young men," said DeMaio's attorney, Dean J. Ramirez was found dead in the back of a taxicab after he encountered the men at the Ritz Bar and Lounge, a gay bar in the heart of Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.

Umberger was found dead in a Manhattan townhouse where he was staying, days after he met two of the convicted men outside nearby, and now closed, The Q. During the trial, prosecutors showed video of the men partying in the townhouse alongside Umberger's unconscious body.

At trial, the defense argued that it was impossible to know which drugs killed the two men, pointing to the fact that some of the victims used illicit drugs recreationally. Prosecutors said the victims were targeted solely for financial gain — not their sexual orientation. However, authorities maintained that the cases were correctly handled.