Saturday, September 08, 2007

West Virginia gay man being beaten to death ignored by mainstream media

A gay man being beaten to death in Milton, WV is being completely ignored by mainstream media.

Ricky Williams, 45, was at his new residence Saturday when sometime before 9:30 p.m. a man and two women forced their way into his apartment and beat him, Milton Police Chief Greg Mullins said.

At least two people, including maintenance man Michael Seager, came to Williams' defense, injuring two of the suspects before chasing them off, Seager said. Seager, whose grandmother owns the apartment building on Mason Street beside Milton Elementary, reported that a neighbor told him she heard the assailants yelling a derogatory term for homosexuals.

However, Mullins said the case was not being treated as a hate crime.

A Milton police officer and a Cabell County sheriff's deputy responded to a 911 call at 9:30 p.m. to help break up a fight at Williams' apartment, Mullins said.

Williams, he said, was bandaged by paramedics, but refused to go to the hospital. At about 11:23 p.m., another 911 call was made because Williams was in worse condition than originally thought.

Seager said after the melee was over, Williams said he was all right. But he couldn't remember what year it was.

"It became obvious he had head trauma," Seager said.

On Monday, Mullins was taking statements from the suspects, who he said were visibly intoxicated on Saturday night and unable to give one then. He also sought Williams but found out only then that he had been taken to St. Mary's Medical Center and had slipped into a coma.

On Thursday, Mullins said charges wouldn't be filed until he finishes interviews with witnesses and all those involved with breaking up the fight.

Still, until Williams died Wednesday, it was only looking like battery charges, Mullins said. Now, the three suspects could face homicide charges.

"We're not doing anything until we get all the pieces together," Mullins said.

Like Kentucky, West Virginia was once part of conservative Virginia, but split from them during the middle of the civil war in 1863.

This attack occurred more than 100 miles from Welch, WV (remember in 2006 the police chief blocked paramedics from performing CPR on a gay man because he falsely assumed the man was HIV positive and therefore a health risk).


Click here for a list of gay hate crimes in Kentucky.


39 comments:

Anonymous said...

West Virginia is not a good place to live especially if you are homosexual.

Anonymous said...

Reminds me of the saying "Kill all the lawyers," only change lawyers to fag.

Said isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Damn I thought West Virginia was probably the worst place to live and be queer until I looked at all the gay homicides you have listed on the link. Shit.

Only thing is I think you get a get out of jail free card if you kill a queer.

Anonymous said...

BY mainstream media i assume you mean national media?

Why would they care? they don't cover the story every time a straight person is killed.

Anonymous said...

Um actually they DO DAVID!

Anonymous said...

Actually David, national media does cover dramatic stories when straight people are killed. Constantly.

Gay homicidal incidences are often ignored.

I would personally advise gay individuals to stay away from the south honestly, it's just too conservative.

Anonymous said...

well, here is the address and phone number of the milton pd...we all could send a letter expressing our conerns/rage/whatever...then they cannot ignore it!!

1595 E Us Route 60
Milton, WV 25541, USA
(304) 743-9211

after you send your letter, wait a few days and give the office a call and ask what is going to be done.

Points for Letter...
1. ask what other evidence is needed for this to be considered a hate crime
2. give an example of two of similar crimes that were 'labeled' hate crimes
3. ask for a response

after you write a letter, get your friends/family to write a letter.

OR...write a letter to the editor.

Anonymous said...

Wild & Wonderful West Virginia?
Try "Hateful & Homophobic West Virginia"
OR
"Ignorant & Regressive West Virginia"
"Inbred & Racist West Virginia"
But, hey - I AM FROM WEST VIRGINIA
and I know the difference.

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts. It is always great pleasure to read your posts.

Anonymous said...

Television news reports of Mr. Williams' murder point to a puzzling law enforcement and media response to the crime.

No arrests have been made, said one TV news report, because police have been unable to determine who struck Williams.

WHAT? The police don't arrest the three suspects for breaking into a person's apartment? Are there no Home Invasion or Breaking & Entering laws in Milton, WV? The police don't arrest the three suspects for Assault & Battery? How about Disorderly Conduct? Are they being held in custody at least or are they just roaming around West Virginia?

Other than the police, does anyone (like the media for example) have any information about the three suspects other than they are two women and one man? Names? Ages? Races? Past history of violence? If someone has any of this information, would you please post it here.

In almost all news reports where someone is said to have been murdered, the suspects are named by the press (such as the case of the death in Chicago of Du Doan).

Unknown said...

West Virginia is not a bad place to live, just like any other state there are unfortunately stupid people who live here that think they are still living 50 years ago when it was OK to be predjustice.

Anonymous said...

The two women and men who did the beating were injured when Seager and a neighbor beat them off the already fatally injured man and they ran a few blocks and called 911 and were taken to a hospital and treated.

Several Cabell County Sheriff deputies came to the scene of the crime and the leader of this shameful pack looked at the dying man and said he "looked like some drunk faggot".

The man was so out of it he didn't know what year it was but the police thought it was okay to go off and leave him because he "refused treatment".

These guys need to be relieved of their jobs.

The ambulance attendants who finally arrived argued over who would touch the man because he had fouled himself. Dying people often do. I understand they will be dealt with.

Ricky was taken to a hospital with no trauma center and left there for four hours until he was taken to the right place.

The Milton police didn't begin investigating until the apartment owner complained to the mayor on Monday.

As of Sept. 12th the inbred trash who killed this man are still roaming free. They have been seen in town bragging about "killing a queer".

There is so much blame and incompentence rampant in this tragedy, that it's difficult to know where to start.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the updated information. The more I learn about it, the more saddened and sickened I feel. I also really, truly do not want this horrible crime to be brushed under the table.

I know of one blogsite (DailyKos.com) that I think would be a great place for this story to get some national attention. DailyKos is the most popular American political blogsite. It gets something like 500,000 hits a day. Hate crime diaries are sometimes shared on this site. It would be awesome if someone at United We Stand would cross-post the story about Ricky Williams on DailyKos.

Just my two cents.

Anonymous said...

This is just horrible! There have been quite a few bashings here in Providence this summer. 2 employees that work at the bar where I perform were bashed about 2 months ago right in front of the establishment.

Anonymous said...

In addition to contacting the the milton police... you should also contact the state police and your state representives... it is time that WVa starts addressing hate crimes... but, the administration will not care -- if you dont.

You can also try to rally equal rights groups to help in contacting the state reps and police depts... Dave Benton from the local news sometimes covers controversial human interest stories... contact him with this concern... he may be able to shame the local inforcement into action.

Unknown said...

THe Murder of Ricky Williams is being discussed in the Milton WV message board.

http://miltonwv.org/

There are many nice people in Milton but the local government there is extremely homophobic.

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Anonymous said...

West Virginia isn't exactly Ptown or Ft Lauderdale, you want to exist here you keep your head down. Get real there are tons of places like that in the USA still. Common sense people.

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bark off said...

Get real there are tons of places like that in the USA still its just common sense.

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Violence against anybody, regardless of their sexual preference should not be tolerated.

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Natasha Lauren said...

So sad to hear Williams' death and what's worse is that his case was just being ignored by the media. I hope that in due time, they will also pa attention to this despite him being a homosexual.

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