Gay teen shot dead while dressed as woman in Fort Lauderdale

South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | February 23, 2008 | Brian Haas and Sofia Santana

[MassRepublicanFlyersFan]

FORT LAUDERDALE - The shooting death of a gay teenage boy who was dressed in women's clothing is being investigated as a possible hate crime, while detectives try to determine whether he was targeted because of his sexual orientation.

Simmie Williams Jr., 17, was attacked on the 1000 block of Sistrunk Boulevard by two young men who wore dark clothing and might live in the neighborhood, police said. Williams, who was wearing a dress and was known in the area by his first name or as "Chris" or "Beyonce," was shot about 12:45 a.m. Friday and soon afterward died at Broward General Medical Center, police said.It's unclear what Williams was doing in the area, about four miles from his house, but police are investigating whether he was working as a prostitute, officials said.

[MassRepublicanFlyersFan]

Beyonce?

[fieldmarshaldj]

Prayers for a misguided soul.

[Allegra]

Simmie?

[ovrtaxt]

WAS IT CHRIS CROCKER?!?!??!

LEAVE BRITNEY ALLOOOOOOOONEEE!!

[pissant]

Turning tricks in rough neighborhoods has consequences.

[wintertime]

Williams’ mother said her son was openly gay,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There is no mention of a dad in this article. This probably explains a lot: Gay, cross-dresser, high school dropout, likely prostitute, etc.

[Mark was here]

Hope they did not mess up his makeup.

[huldah1776]

True reason won’t get out in the MSM.

[PeteB570]

You can say that again.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

This new trend of investigating people for what they may have been thinking is very dangerous and must end. Investigate the murder and leave it at that. Anything more is simply feel-good political correctness.

[VirginiaConstitutionalist]

Thank you for a dignified post. Someone’s made many terrible mistakes in life don’t entitle others to mock them in death. Sending prayers to his family as well.

[Abathar]

Perhaps he dressed up too well and gave someone a big surprise they weren't expecting, while their buddies were laughing at him because they cought on quicker.

I think Aerosmith did a song about guys like this...

[weegee]

Cruising for rough trade is a dangerous activity some trannies delight in. Of course, it could be considered “rape” to seduce a guy under false pretense.

There is no consent to a same sex sexual encounter but the perverts delight in “turning” a straight guy. There is plenty of homosexual fiction (and even feature film) with this as the crux of the plot.

[Mark was here]

Thank you for a dignified post as well. ;)

[Bobalu]

Prayers for the kid and his family.

And what kind of creep makes wisecracks about a kid who was murdered? Some of these posters are an embarrassment :-(

[madison10]

He may have surprised a woman in a public restroom...

[Morgana]

Sad ending to a sad life.

[Morgana]

Prayers for the kid and his family.

And what kind of creep makes wisecracks about a kid who was murdered? Some of these posters are an embarrassment :-(

---

I agree, he was only 17.

[Barnacle]

Turning tricks in rough neighborhoods has consequences.

Especially when a customer discovers he paid fr a woman and got a guy.

[Bushbacker1]

Here I am wondering, why wasn’t the black sheriff’s deputy in Tampa who dumped the white paraplegic from his wheelchair not charged with a hate crime.

[gitmo]

A transvestite working SIS-TRUNK Blvd? LOL.

[LucyJo]

I’m thinking about Deuteronomy 11:18,19 -

18: Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
19: And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Seventeen years old...how very sad in so many ways.

[varyouga]

Perhaps he dressed up too well and gave someone a big surprise they weren't expecting, while their buddies were laughing at him because they caught on quicker.

Someone I knew had a similar experience at a club. Went to 3rd with what he thought was a woman in the bathroom and bragged about how great it was. 'She' was nearly perfect looking but a bartender knew.

When he found out it was a man, he nearly killed 'her' at the club and was only stopped by a few of his friends.

I heard the 'experience' scarred him for life and he was never the same.

Another good reason to get to know someone before fooling around.

[montag813]

Prostitutes get shot every single day, and no one calls it a “hate crime”.

[so_real]

From this link : Around Broward with Elgin Jones

FORT LAUDERDALE  The neighborhoods in northwest Fort Lauderdale have a long history of disease-spreading prostitutes selling sex along city streets. The issue has become a problem and it is so out of hand that police now simply look the other way. In the wee hours of any morning, traffic is backed up on Sistrunk Boulevard as cars full of men pursue the scantily clad streetwalkers as they strut up and down the sidewalks. Many of these bikini-clad prostitutes are male transvestites, not women, and there is no need to mention the rate of AIDS in that community. This would never be tolerated on Bayview Drive, or in any of the white neighborhoods.

The Sun Sentinal article paints this as a hate crime against a misunderstood kid. That is likely a pathetic misrepresentation. I feel bad for him. I pray the Good Lord will have mercy on him. I hope the police capture those involved in his death. But, there's a high probability that drugs/prostitution/money were involved. The boy chose a risky lifestyle and lost the bet. Painting the article any other way is intellectually dishonest.

[pissant]

Yep. And how many of the murderers actually hate women? Probably lots. The entire Hate Crimes propaganda machine is pure stalinism, and should be flushed down the sewer where it belongs.

[G Larry]

35 years ago, in a far away place, a guy dressed as a woman performed a sex act on an unaware man. When the man discovered the deceit, he killed the impersonator in a fit of rage and walked away.

[Syncro]

So, if someone shot him/her and knew he was really a male and gay, it’s a hate crime

If someone killed her/him and thought she/he was a female, it’s not a hate crime?

That’s sexist if it’s less serious of a crime to kill a girl than a boy.

[CalifChris]

“WAS IT CHRIS CROCKER?!?!??!

LEAVE BRITNEY ALLOOOOOOOONEEE!!”

FUNNY!!!

[Popman]

Any case where investigators or prosecutors determine that a victim was targeted based on race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, mental or physical disability or advanced age can be deemed a hate crime.

10 different types of discrimination can be construed as a hate crime?

I can understand, though not agree, if you hate someone for being a different color, an alternative sexual pervert, (oops, that's probably hateful), religion or national origin.

You can now "hate" someone for being too old, mentally ill, or your great grandmother was from some different country ?

Pretty soon, every crime will be categorized as a hate crime, which at it's core it is anyway

Stupid liberals. (oops, did it again, hate speak)

[Joe Boucher]

Very seldom do you see a black charged with a hate crime. Nor do you see gays either. Mostly hate crime status is reserved for white folk.
Special rights for various groups=preferential treatment.
A crime is a crime.
That said it may appear this guy may have deserved an ass whoopin not death.

[Steely Tom]

Painting the article any other way is intellectually dishonest.

Intellectual dishonesty is the main-stream media's product.

[Popman]

why wasn’t the black sheriff’s deputy in Tampa who dumped the white paraplegic from his wheelchair not charged with a hate crime.

Don't you know, only conservative white people can commit hate crimes.

[Richard Kimball]

People who insert themselves into dangerous situations sometimes die. Whether it is a teenage boy dressing as a girl to turn tricks at one in the morning, or Natalie Holloway, who apparently got drunk in a foreign country and left a bar with three guys she barely knew, they risk death. This isn't to say they deserve death, anymore than someone who stands too close to the edge of a cliff or accidentally runs a stop light deserves death.

[Jakarta ex-pat]

The shooting death of a gay teenage boy who was dressed in women's clothing is being investigated as a possible hate crime

How about good old fashioned murder?

[Lucky Dog]

And what kind of creep makes wisecracks about a kid who was murdered? Some of these posters are an embarrassment

I view the situation a bit differently. While I agree with you that wisecracks about murdered teenagers are, in deed, untoward and, perhaps, an embarrassment, if that is all there is to the situation. However, there is more to the story, as well as, to what you would deem, wisecracks.

Let’s get a few things straight from the beginning: First, no one deserves death without due process of law. Second, no one deserves any sanctions for freedom of expression. This kid was put to death without due process of law, i.e., homicide. Beyond his killers potential need for self-defense or possible, severe, mental illness, if such was the case, there can be no justification. His killers should be pursued, captured and put on trial for the crime of murder, if appropriate. Enough said on that issue. However, neither that issue, nor the tragedy of the untimely demise of a young person, were the real issues in this article.

[From the article:] Any case where investigators or prosecutors determine that a victim was targeted based on race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, [emphasis added] national origin, mental or physical disability or advanced age can be deemed a hate crime. [emphasis added]

The paragraph above, quoted from the article is the crux of the issue that has drawn so many derisive, if, perhaps, poorly stated or “targeted” comments to which you seem to object. The tragedy and loss to family and friends of this young person’s passing cannot be overstated. Nonetheless, the circumstances surrounding his passing do bear examination and comment as well as the legal jeopardy facing anyone accused of his homicide.

As others have already noted, hate crimes are really thought crimes. If we, as citizens, cede the right for the government to prosecute us on the basis of our thoughts (or, more realistically what the government says are our thoughts) rather than illegal actions, then all liberty is forfeit.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I think Aerosmith did a song about guys like this...

"...Then she whipped out her gun and she blew me away..."

[IMissPresidentReagan]

I’m sending thoughts and prayers out to his family. While I don’t approve of the homosexual life style, this young man was still a human being that did not deserve to be murdered.

I don’t understand hate crime enhancesments, because all murders are essientially hate crimes. All crimes are hate crimes, whether it be hatred of the individual, an ethnic group, a gender, a class, or the color purple that motivates that criminal to act. All victims should be treated equally, and get just as much “justice”/retribution. It is no less tragic that a middle aged white man is murdered than if a teen aged African American female is murdered, in my opinion.

[seoul62]

Prayers for the troubled soul, may he find peace in heaven. My question to my fellow freepers: if you saw a gay-bashing in progress, what would you do?/Just Asking - seoul62........

[gondramB]

>>Of course, it could be considered “rape” to seduce a guy under false pretense.

There is no consent to a same sex sexual encounter but the perverts delight in “turning” a straight guy. <<

I agree. There is a legal standard for rape by deception of identity.

I’d add that if we had appropriate punishment for murder the if this is, in fact a murder, we would be executing the SOB and the question of “hate crime” would be irrelevant.

[Lucky Dog]

How would you know it was a gay bashing?

[Bobalu]

I don’t believe in the so-called hate crimes statutes either.

My point is that it is INSIGNIFICANT what the victims sexual orientation or taste in attire was! It is unseemly for posters to make wisecracks about the victim.

[seoul62]

Because the troubled soul was probably a tranny-prostitute turning tricks, and when the johns in question found the she was a he, they murdered him./Just Asking - seoul62.......

[Lucky Dog]

My point is that it is INSIGNIFICANT what the victims sexual orientation or taste in attire was! It is unseemly for posters to make wisecracks about the victim.

I think you failed to note my comment (quoted hereinafter): I view the situation a bit differently. While I agree with you that wisecracks about murdered teenagers is, in deed, untoward and, perhaps, an embarrassment, if that is all there is to the situation. However, there is more to the story, as well as, to what you would deem, wisecracks.

I invite you to consider a certain commentaries called the Darwin Awards. Do you level the same criticisms concerning the comments surrounding these commentaries?

[so_real]

Fair question. Jesus, in His time on Earth, witnessed what would have been prostitute bashing had He not intervened. That’s the model I would follow. I believe, in a similar situation, I would make the effort to follow His lead.

[Lucky Dog]

How would you know it was a gay bashing?

Because the troubled soul was probably a tranny-prostitute turning tricks, and when the johns in question found the she was a he, they murdered him./Just Asking - seoul62.......

In other words, you would know that gay bashing was in progress because you (the johns) were personally engaged in it just after engaging in illegal activity (hiring a prostitute) and personally discovering the prostitute was gay?

I think your original question bears some critical thought.

[trumandogz]

Find the shooter(s) and charge and convict them with murder and let them spend the next 99 years in prison exploring and learning about the gay lifestyle.

[Bobalu]

I really like your comment...well said :-)

[P-Marlowe]

I have noticed a large percentage of very effeminate teenage boys these days.

When I was a teenager if you were effeminate you would get picked on and ridiculed and beat up in school or after school until you stopped being effeminate. I don't recall more than one or two effeminate boys in my high school. (The only one I can actually remember died of AIDS back in the 1980's) They'd all been cured of those proclivities in Junior High School.

These days effeminate boys are held in high esteem and those who would dare to discourage them from acting that way by making fun of them or ridiculing them are thrown in jail for hate crimes.

[rockabyebaby]

He may have surprised a woman in a public restroom...

That only happens here in MA where perverts and rapists are set free to commit more crimes.