Dwight DeLee was arrested early Sunday
morning. He's charged with second degree murder, police claim he
shot twenty-two year-old Moses Cannon because he was gay. DeLee
pleaded not guilty on Monday, reports News 10 Now.
Openly gay brothers Mark and Moses
Cannon were both shot while sitting in a parked car at a friend's
home in Syracuse on Friday night. Police say people in the home were
yelling gay slurs at the brothers. Moses was also living as a woman,
Latiesha Green.
“Dwight DeLee goes into the residence
at 411 Seymour Street, returns with a 22 caliber rifle, puts the
rifle to the driver's side window of that vehicle and fires one
round,” said Syracuse Police Chief Gary Miguel. “And that one
round strikes Mark Cannon in the arm, and continues on and strikes
Moses Cannon in the chest area.”
Impaired Mark Cannon, 18, managed to
drive the car to the family's home.
“I'm hurt. Angry, upset. Am I mad
at the kid? Yes. Mostly, I'm upset with society. How do we let our
kids get this angry this young? This was hatred,” said Moses
Cannon's father, Albert Cannon.
At Monday's arraignment,
twenty-year-old DeLee pleaded not guilty. Police said the district
attorney's office would determine whether to pursue the murder as a
hate crime.
“Our suspect took a rifle and shot
and killed this person, wounding also his brother, for the sole
purpose that he didn't care for the sexual preference of our victim,”
said Miguel, then added, “And isn't that sad?”