Edgar Garzon

Edgar Garzon (1966 - September 4, 2001) was a Latino gay man from Queens, New York, by way of Columbia. On August 15, 2001, Garzon was allegedly attacked by John McGhee after leaving bar at around 3:50 a.m. Garzon remained in a coma due to his injuries, and died on September 4, 2001. At trial, the prosecution said the attack ensued after Garzon flirted with McGhee.

Edgar Garzon

Garzon, 35, left his family behind in Columbia, to build a life for himself in New York City.¹⁾ He was a dancer, but made his living as set designer for local Latino theater groups. He was also a member of the Columbia Lesbian and Gay Association.²⁾

On August 15, 2001, Garzon was out drinking with friends. Shortly before 4:00 a.m., he left Friend's Tavern on Roosevelt, in the Jaskcon Heights neighborhood of Queens, New York. McGhee spent the night smoking marijuana and riding around the neighborhood in a red car, with Christopher Ricalde, 14, and another man named Ya Ya.³⁾

Witness accounts differ on what happened next, when Garzon crossed paths with McGhee, Ricalde and the other man in the car. The attack apparently took place after an exchange between Garzon and one of the men in the car.⁴⁾

Garzon's friend Raul Duque said he was with Garzon when the red car approached for the first time. Duques had been out drinking with Garzon and friends. The two were headed home, and had reached 76th Street, where Garzon stopped urinate. The red car pulled up beside Garzon, and he exchanged words with someone in the car.⁵⁾ Duques did not hear the conversation, and said Garzon told him that someone in the car had invited him to a party, but he refused. Duques later said he assumed that statement was Garzon's bravado in response to being rejected.⁶⁾

Duques and Garzon saw the red car a second time, and Garzon expresed concern. Afterwards, Duques and Garzon parted company, with Garzon heading down 77th Street alone. A bank surveillance camera captured a second encounter between Garzon and the occupants of red car. The video caught the car, but not the men inside. It shows Garzon stopping and looking intently into the car. After Garzon goes on his way, someone in the car goes after him, out of camera range.⁷⁾

Frank Byrne, a resident of 77th Street at the time, said that he was awaked that morning by “three loud whacks.” He looked out of his window to see a man lying on the sidewalk, a second man standing over him, and a third man moving back towards a red car.

The next time Duques saw the red car was when he came rushing back to 77th Street after hearing a loud noise, and turned the corner to see two men getting into it very quickly. He found Garzon laying on the ground, and called 911. ⁸⁾

Sgt. Eileen M. Walter was the first police officer to respond to the 911 call, and arrived to find Garzon lying in a pool of his own blood, barely conscious and “constantly moaning.” Emergency medical technician Stephen Carter said that Garzon's head injuries were so serious that he and his partner could not stop the bleeding, and saw what appeared to be brain matter on Garzon's face.⁹⁾

Police believed that he was attacked with a blunt object¹⁰⁾ such as a hammer¹¹⁾ , a baseball bat, or a lead pipe¹²⁾ , but had no witnesses who had actually seen the assault on Garzon. Police also believed Garzon had been robbed of $10¹³⁾,

Garzon was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he remained in a coma until he died on on Septeber 4, 2001. An autopy revealed that Garzon had suffered several skull fractures, and a brain hemmorage. In response to Garzon's death, gay activists raise nearly $3,000 in reward money for a tip leading to an arrest. The reward fund grew to $15,000. A candlelight march from the bar to the murder scene was held on September 6, 2001 ¹⁴⁾

Garzon's murder brought back memories of the murder of Julio Rivera – a gay man who was beaten and stabbed just a block from where Garzon was assaulted.¹⁵⁾

In 2003, Ricalde – who had been a passenger in the red car the night Garzon was attacked – came forward, initially saying his knowledge of the murder was only second hand¹⁶⁾ , but eventually identified McGhee as Garzon's assailant.¹⁷⁾

At the time of the assault, McGhee and Ricalde were living with Ricalde's father. One week after the attack on Garzon, they watched a television news report on the assault, and Ricalde said McGhee suggested he might have to leave the city.¹⁸⁾

McGhee fled to London, where his wife and child were living, in December 2001.¹⁹⁾ Police located him there in 2004, but did not believe they had enough evidence to have him extradited. Scotland Yard agreed to keep him under surveillance.

When McGhee applied for British citizenship in 2006, he lied about previous convictions on his visa application, and was removed from the country.²⁰⁾ New York police, having been told by British authorities what flight McGhee would be on, met him at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and McGhee was arrested on June 28, 2006, and charged with one count of second degree murder and one count of manslaughter in Garzon's death. While in police custody, McGhee made statements placed him in New York at the time of Garzon's murder. ²¹⁾

McGhee went to trial on July 12, 2007. In her opening statement, assistant district attorney Karen Ross asserted that Garzon was attacked because he “made the mistake of hitting on” McGhee. She also told jurors that they would hear from an eyewitness to the assault, who was a passenger in the red car along with McGhee; Ricalde, who had known McGhee for eight years.²²⁾ The defense countered that no DNA or fingerprints linked McGhee to the crime, and no weapon had been found, despite defense and police assertions that a weapon was used in the attack on Garzon.²³⁾

Ricalde testified that McGhee attacked Garzon on August 15, 2001. Ricalde said that he saw McGhee knock Garzon down with one punch and then punch him repeatedly, causing Garzon's head to slam in to the ground.

Ricalde's testimony differed from from that of other witnesses and the assistant district attorney's opening remarks in the following ways:

• Ricalde testified that McGhee attacked Garzon with his bare hands, while police believed Garzon was been attacked with a blunt object.

• Ross said Garzon was attacked after hitting on McGhee. Ricalde testified that Garzon was rebuffed twice, and was attacked when he approached a third time, when McGhee left the car to urinate. According to Ricalde, “The guy was reaching for something.”

• Ricalde said the attack happened on 76th Street, while every other witness placed the incident on 77th street.

• Ricalde also said that a second man, presumably Garzon's friend Raul Duque, was nearby at the time of the attack. However, Duque testified that he was not present for the attack, and arrived on the scene after Garzon was was already on the ground.

• Ricalde said he and McGhee had spent the night smoking marijuana and riding around the neighborhood with a third man with the nickname YaYa, and that Yaya exited the car and urged McGhee to stop attacking Garzon. Byrne, however, only saw three men; Garzon, and the two men who drove off in the red car.²⁴⁾

The defense attacked inconsistencies in the defense case, as well as Ricalde's criminal background, which included breaking into a car and belonging to two gangs; the Bloods and the Latin Kings.

On July 24, 2007, the judge in McGhee's murder trial declared a mistrial after a juror call in sick two days in a row, causing the jury to suspend deliberations for four days.²⁵⁾