By Gina Martinez
The final two defendants of a group of six teenagers charged in the deadly 2011 beating of 18-year-old Anthony Collao, who they mistakenly thought was gay, in Woodhaven have pleaded guilty, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Jonathan Echevarria, 22, of Bedford Stuyvesant, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and Queens Supreme Court Justice Joseph Zayas said he would be sentenced Sept. 28 to 18 years in prison followed by five years post-release supervision. Nolis Ogando, also 22, of Ridgewood pleaded guilty to first-degree gang assault and was to be sentenced this week to eight years in prison followed by five years post-release supervision, according to Brown.
The DA added hate crimes to all of the attackers’ charges shortly after it was discovered that the teens targeted Collao because they believed he was gay. But all six pleaded guilty to manslaughter and/or gang attack, which were lesser charges.
At the time of his death Collao was a high school graduate who was working at a family ice cream shop. He had planned to attend college that fall. Callao lived in Bethpage, L.I., and returned to Woodhaven, where he grew up, for a party.
“This was a horribly brutal and unprovoked attack,” Brown said. “The victim had just left a birthday celebration and was chased down as the defendants yelled anti-gay slurs. When they caught up to the 18-year-old recent high school graduate, the defendants punched, kicked and viciously beat him. He died a couple days later in a local hospital. The last two defendants in this case have now admitted their roles in this heinous attack that cost a young man his life.”
According to the charges, Collao and his girlfriend left a party on March 12, 2011 at 87-19 90th St. in Woodhaven that was hosted by two openly gay men. That is when Alex Velez, Calvin Pietri, Luis Tabales, Christopher Lozada, Nolis Ogando and Jonathan Echevarria chased Collao and his friend after making derogatory remarks, Brown said. Three of the teens were carrying a stick, a pipe and a cane. At 12:50 a.m. the six teenagers accosted Collao on 90th Street, between 88th and 89th avenues and threw him to the ground, according to Brown. The teens proceeded to punch, kick and bash Collao with objects and a piece of lattice fencing before robbing him, taking his Atlanta Braves baseball cap and his sneakers, according to the DA’s office. As a result of his injuries, Collao died two days later.
Fifteen minutes after the attack police apprehended five of the six teenagers involved in the brutal assault near Woodhaven Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue, Brown said. Police recovered a metal pipe with blood on it near the victim and a piece of fencing. The sixth teenager was arrested three months later.
The other four attackers, all of whom are now 22 years old, have already been sentenced. Pietri, of Woodhaven, pleaded guilty in 2013 to gang assault and was sentenced to 16 years in prison, Tabales, of Richmond Hill, pleaded guilty to gang assault and was sentenced to 12 years. Lozada, of Woodhaven, pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to four years in prison. Velez, of Queens, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in April and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmart
