Black Teen Dies in Alleged Racial Shooting
Two white teenagers were charged with murder Tuesday in what prosecutors said was a racially motivated drive-by shooting of a black teenager in Elkhart.
A newspaper reported that 19-year-old Sasezley Richardson was killed in an effort by one of the defendants to gain membership in a white supremacist organization.
At a court appearance Tuesday, a judge entered not guilty pleas for the alleged gunman, Jason Powell, 19, and his friend Alex Witmer, 18. Neither man had an attorney. In court papers, police said the two confessed.
“This is a particularly heinous crime,” prosecutor Mike Christofeno said. “This victim was entirely random. It could have been any black person or any minority person.”
Richardson was walking home from a shopping mall Wednesday, carrying diapers for his girlfriend’s baby, when Witmer drove by and Powell shot him several times, investigators said. Richardson died Saturday.
The Elkhart Truth, quoting unidentified sources, said Powell was seeking admission to the Aryan Brotherhood, a prison gang. He reportedly wanted to earn a tattoo for having killed a black person.
Civil rights leaders in Elkhart called for calm Tuesday, and the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People planned a prayer vigil Thursday morning at the site of the shooting in the city of about 45,000 people.
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