Parks Department employee charged with murder, hate crimes in Clinton Hill killing of Venezuelan migrant • Brooklyn Paper

A city parks employee has been charged with murder after he allegedly shot and killed a Venezuelan migrant in a Clinton Hill park last month.

Elijah Mitchell, a 23-year-old seasonal park worker from Queens, was charged Wednesday with murder as a hate crime, second-degree murder, illegal possession of a weapon, second-degree menacing as a hate crime and second-degree menacing. He pleaded not guilty to all counts and was ordered held on $350,000 bail, according to court records.

Mitchell is accused of killing 30-year-old Jose Rodriguez-Marcano on the night of July 21 in Steuben Park – where Rodriguez-Marcano was believed to be sleeping and Mitchell was working.

According to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, the incident occurred days earlier, on July 18. During a shift at the park, Mitchell reportedly became angry at the presence of migrants and began yelling and tearing down the tarps that were serving as shelter for them. Several asylum seekers, mostly men, had no choice but to stay overnight in the park after their 30-day permits at one of the two migrant shelters nearby expired, Gothamist reported last month.

Rodriguez-Marcano reportedly confronted the park employee and the two got into an argument before Mitchell allegedly went to his car and returned with a gun in his waistband, which he pointed at the victim before his co-workers pulled him away.

On July 21, Mitchell reportedly returned to the park after work and shot Rodriguez-Marcano in the chest. Paramedics took the victim to NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. According to prosecutors, surveillance footage captured the defendant running from the park immediately after the shooting, getting into his vehicle and fleeing the scene.

Mitchell was arrested on July 29 for murder and illegal possession of weapons. On August 21, he was additionally charged in Brooklyn Supreme Court with

Murder as a hate crime, threats and threats as a hate crime.

“This defendant allegedly arrived at the location where the victim was located armed with a gun to settle a score,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “This premeditated and cold-blooded murder is egregious on many levels, not least because the alleged motive was hatred toward newcomers to our city. My office will vigorously prosecute this horrific case, and these enhanced charges send a strong message that hate crimes will never be tolerated in Brooklyn.”

Rodriguez-Marcano was one of three migrants shot that night in Clinton Hill. While police initially believed his murder was related to the killings of 21-year-old Enny DeJesus Urbina Mendez and 59-year-old Francisco Fuentes Rangel outside a shelter at 29 Ryerson Street, they have since been determined to be separate incidents and another suspect is in custody for the Ryerson Street killings.

If convicted of the main charge, Mitchell faces up to 25 years in prison. His next court date is expected on October 23.