LGBT doctor suffers from permanent visual impairment to retina: DA Office
A man from Manhattan is awaiting sentencing to learn if he will face up to 25 years to life in prison for a hate crime attack that took place at the Jamaica Long Island Rail Road station on Sutphin Boulevard a year and a half ago.
Kevin Carroll, 39, a frequent felony offender, was found guilty by a jury Thursday following a two-week trial for robbery in the second degree and aggravated harassment in the second degree as a hate crime, according to District Attorney Melinda Katz’s office.
The charges stem from a July 2020 attack against another man whom Carroll had robbed and accosted with homophobic slurs.
“Hate has no place in our borough,” said Katz in a statement. “The defendant in this case attacked a man without provocation. The defendant yelled out homophobic slurs and insults then knocked the victim out and stole his property. A jury weighed the evidence and found the defendant guilty at trial.”
Carroll was previously convicted for a robbery of a 15-year-old youth in 2000 and an attempted aggravated assault of a police officer who approached him for identification when he was panhandling on the subway. He body-slammed the officer onto a platform and tried to shove her onto the tracks as a train approached, according to the DA’s office.
The July 22, 2020 incident occurred after Carroll asked the victim, a 40-year-old doctor who was in scrubs, for a dollar. When the man said he didn’t have it, the defendant threw a water bottle at him, said the DA’s office. Despite the attack, the victim found a dollar and threw it at the defendant, which led to the 39-year-old calling the man a homophobic slur.
The victim affirmed he was gay and that sent the defendant into a rage, during which he repeatedly called the doctor homophobic slurs before punching him, stealing his cellphone and gym bag and leaving him unconscious at the platform.
Video surveillance placed Carroll at the scene before and after the Jamaica LIRR attack, said the DA’s office. The defendant was arrested two days later. The victim suffers from permanent visual impairment because of damage to his retina.
Hate crimes across the city have skyrocketed, according to a December 2021 report from CBS. There were 503 hate crimes reported in 2021, which was a 100 percent increase from 252 in 2020. In 2021, there were 85 crimes over sexual orientation, which was up from 29 in 2020. Former Commissioner Dermot Shea blamed the rise in hate crimes on lower incarceration rates.
The conviction comes days after Mayor Adams, a former transit cop who campaigned to take a tougher stance on crime, acknowledged more must be done to stop law-breaking in the city’s transit system on Jan. 18.
“We know we have a job to do,” said Adams.