SEATTLE - A New York City Parks Department worker accused of fatally shooting a Venezuelan migrant last month in Steuben Park is now facing murder as a hate crime charge. Elijah Mitchell, a seasonal employee from Queens, was indicted on five charges, including second-degree murder as a hate crime, illegal possession of a weapon, menacing as a hate crime and menacing.
The 23-year-old showed up to work at Steuben Park on July 18 and began ripping apart the tarps and tents set up by migrants at the Steuben Playground on Flushing Avenue, near South Williamsburg and Clinton Hill, authorities recalled.
