A Bronx teen accused of stabbing his classmates in retaliation over alleged homophobic bullying has been found guilty of manslaughter.
On Monday, Judge Michael Gross found Abel Cedeño guilty on charges of manslaughter, weapons possession, and assault for fatally stabbing 15-year-old Matthew McCree and stabbing Arian Laboy when he attempted to intervene at the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation in 2017.
Cedeño’s lawyers asked Gross to allow their client to remain free until he’s sentenced, in order to receive psychiatric counseling and medication. But Gross denied the request, saying that could take place in prison.
Cedeño was taken into custody after the verdict was read and could face up to 50 years in prison after he’s sentenced on Sept. 10.
The teenager had originally been charged with murder for stabbing McCree, but was was eventually reduced to one count of first-degree manslaughter.
Prosecutors argued that Cedeño had brandished the knife on social media days before the incident, showing he planned the attack beforehand. In fact, they claimed that McCree and Laboy had not bullied Cedeño at all.
But Cedeño’s lawyers argued that he had been the victim of homophobic bullying over the years, and used the knife in self-defense.
Cedeño testified in court last week that he had endured years of homophobic bullying because of his sexual orientation.
“They pulled my hair, they pushed me, called me derogatory gay slurs,” he said.
Abel Cedeño and his legal team – Photo: NBC 4-New York.
Police claim that McCree and Laboy, as well as others, had been throwing broken bits of pencils, pen caps, and balls of paper at Cedeño’s head during history class. Cedeño allegedly excused himself to go to the bathroom, and returned with a switchblade knife.
Cedeño testified that his classmates had been harassing him in class. He claimed he didn’t remember stabbing anyone, but remembered being attacked.
“I yelled, whoever threw that is a [expletive],” Cedeño said of the classmates throwing things at him. “Matthew got up and said ‘it was me’… he pushed Mr. Jacoby to get to me. I used my right hand to take out the knife.”
McCree’s mother, Louna Dennis, said she was grateful for the verdict.
“I’m just so happy I got justice for my son,” she said.
An Oslo court convicted an Iranian-born Norwegian citizen to 30 years in prison for shooting up a gay bar during Oslo's annual Pride celebration in 2022.
After a two-month trial that lasted from March to May, Zaniar Matapour, 45, was found guilty of murder and aggravated terrorism for an attack that killed two patrons and injured 34 others, including nine who suffered gunshot wounds, at the London Pub in Oslo.
Matapour's 30-year sentence is the longest possible under Norwegian law -- although it could be extended indefinitely if he is deemed to pose a threat to society. He will serve a minimum of 20 years before being eligible for parole.
A federal judge ruled that a D.C. public high school must allow a Christian sports organization that denounces homosexuality to form a chapter at the school.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, of the District of Columbia, ruled earlier this month that D.C. Public Schools violated the constitutional rights of members of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) when it suspended -- and later barred -- the group from Jackson-Reed High School in Northwest Washington.
As recently as 2022, the club had previously been allowed to exist, to meet on campus, and to enjoy the benefits of being an officially recognized student club or group.
A Dallas hotel that was hosting the DaddyLand Festival gay circuit party last weekend abruptly evicted participants after other guests, including members of a historically Black sorority, allegedly complained.
According to the Dallas Voice, the Crowne Plaza Dallas Downtown was booked to host the festival -- which had an ancient Greek "mythology" theme -- from July 3 to 8.
But on Saturday, July 6, the hotel canceled all remaining LGBTQ DaddyLand events and asked all participants to leave the premises by 6 p.m.
DaddyLand organizers posted messages on social media about the cancellation, which they attributed to complaints from non-festival guests.
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