White woman's killing a hate crime

[The Unseen]

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - The fatal stabbing of a 56-year-old woman at a Westchester County mall will be prosecuted as a hate crime because the suspect said "he wanted to kill a white person." Phillip Grant, 43, a negro, was indicted on charges of murder as a hate crime, murder and possession of a weapon in the June 29 killing of Concetta Russo-Carriero in the parking garage of the Galleria Mall.

If convicted of murder as a hate crime, the minimum sentence would be 20 years to life instead of 15 years to life. "The statute makes it very clear that if you intend to kill someone and intentionally select your victim based upon your belief of their race, color, religion or sexual orientation that the crime can be charged as a hate crime," the District Attorney said.

In a 45-minute tape played at a court hearing, Grant told police that he was fighting a race war and killed the woman because she was white. "All I knew was she had blond hair and blue eyes and she had to die," he said. "(She) was not an innocent victim _ because she was white." Grant, who was homeless, was a convicted rapist and a Level 3 sex offender who had served his maximum sentence. He was in the habit of roaming downtown White Plains during the day and using a county shelter at night.

The killing has produced growing support for a civil commitment law that would subject a violent sex offender to a second trial upon his or her release. A jury would determine whether a convict should be kept in a mental institution until no longer considered dangerous. Earlier Tuesday, at a hearing, the victim's husband and grown sons joined the fight for such a law. Jonathan Carriero said it should be called Connie's Law, after his mother. "Connie's Law would be very important to us and our family in addition to the community by keeping these level 3 sex offenders away from innocent people."

Newsday.com