Three Detroit area teens have been arrested in the murder of a 71-year-old Ann Arbor man police say they targeted off a dating site.
According to a report by MLive, David Maurer invited the three teens into his home after meeting one of them on Grindr.com. Ann Arbor police say that 20-year-old Rikky Ranger and 19-year-old Mark Paling searched Maurer's senior citizen housing apartment for valuables while nineteen-year-old Richard Thompson had him in a choke hold until he went limp from loss of oxygen. Thompson was dead in his home for about a week before the smell made neighbors suspicious. He was found face down on his couch.
After reviewing security footage, police determined he was murdered Nov. 23. In the following days the youths used Maurer's credit card. According to the report a computer, cash, a wallet, credit cards, a cell phone, a gun and a controlled substance were reportedly taken from the home.
The three suspects remain in jail without bond, facing up to life in prison if convicted. A preliminary exam is scheduled for Dec. 26 in District Court in Pittsfield Township.
If the youths are found guilty, Maurer's death will be among the growing number of "hook up" murders that are tracked by the National Coalition of AntiViolence Projects.
"David Maurer's homicide shows the real need for education, public awareness, and campaigns specifically focused on hook-up violence and intimate partner violence in LGBTQ communities," said Chai Jindasurat, co-director of community organizing and public advocacy at the New York City NCAVP. "Stigma often prevents us from talking about hook-up violence, that's why at NCAVP we are working hard to raise awareness about this critical issue in our communities."
In NCAVP's report Intimate Partner Violence in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and HIV Affected Communities in 2012 , released on October , NCAVP documented 21 LGBTQ intimate partner violence homicides in the U.S. in 2012. This is over three times the number of documented IPV homicides in 2010, and the highest number of IPV homicides ever recorded by the Coalition. The report also found that roughly half of the 21 IPV homicide victims were men (47.6%). Additionally, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, lesbians, gay men and bisexual people experience intimate partner violence at the same or higher rates as non-LGB people.
To read our recent story on Intimate Partner Violence, please go to https://www.pridesource.com/article.html?article=63707.
