Hate Crimes in Central New York: The Murder of 'Openly Gay' Moses Latiesha Cannon; Foreigners Living in Fear

By Kofi Quaye

The night of November 14, 2008, was like any other on the west side of Syracuse. It was a typical scene in the hood as Moses Latiesha 'Tiesh' Canon and his brother, Mark sat in a car in the 400 block of Seymour Street. They had driven there in response to an invitation to a party in the vicinity. They lived with their mother at 404 Arthur Ave, not too far from Seymour Street.

To anyone observing them, the pair would have looked like two brothers out and about in the community in which they have lived all their lives. Moses Cannon would not return to Arthur Street alive.

At approximately, 8.45 pm, shots rang out, at close range. The two brothers instinctively ducked for cover, according to media reports. But it was too late for Moses Cannon. He was hit. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Another homicide had just been committed in Syracuse.

Syracuse Police arrived on the scene and began the process of investigating the crime. Evidence at the scene provided proof that a shooting had occurred. Further investigation revealed that the victim had been shot at close range.

But slowly, and in response to routine questions on the victim's identity, possible motive, and potential suspects, it began to dawn on the police that this was no ordinary shooting. There seemed to be something unique to this particular homicide, something so significantly different as to prompt them to begin to think of the crime as something more than a homicide. It had all the markings of a hate crime.

According to media reports, it came to the attention of the police that Moses Cannon was not the female he looked like or pretended to be. He was Moses Cannon, known to most as Latiesha, or "Tiesh', a man in female clothing, a transgender. The perpetrator either knew or appeared to know where to find him. He had been set up by someone who wanted him dead. Police investigations led to the arrest and trial of Dwight R. Deelee for the first hate crime to be tried in New York State, according to the media.

54 year old Abdoirahman Mahmoud was found beaten to death on the Southside of Syracuse. An Ethiopian refugee, he had lived in the neighborhood for years and was known to be a loner who minded his own business. His death was ruled a homicide and three teenagers were later arrested. One of he teenagers, Gregory Jones, 26 was charged with criminally negligent homicide and sent to jail.

MEDIA HYPE: OR LEGAL PRECEDENT?
The Post Standard described the murder of Cannon as a hate crime the first time it ran the story. So did the website Syracuse.com. Both citied statements made to that effect by members of Tiesh.Cannon's family. As far as they were concerned, it was a hate crime perpetrated by an individual who resented the fact that Tiesh was openly gay and walked around dressed in women's clothing as a transgender.
The African community accepted the tragic death of Mahmoud as an 'unfortunate incident' but deep down most African immigrants knew his death was nothing short of a hate crime.

HATE CRIME HYSTERIA NATION WIDE AND IN CENTRAL NEW YORK
The 2008 murder of Cannon immediately moved into center stage as the prime example of a hate crime. It occurred at a time when the local, statewide and national media had began to focus on a new theme in the legal realm labeled as hate crimes. Cannon's murder appeared to fit the description of a hate crime and was soon being referred to as having the potential to be prosecuted as the first hate crime in New York State to go to court.

Suddenly, what begun as a homicide in a neighborhood on the West side of Syracuse had become a landmark case that would set a precedent for all other such cases in all New York State. Both the law enforcement authorities and the legal establishment recognized the gravity of the case as well as the impact and ramifications the murder of Cannon would have on state laws and federal laws if the case. By the time the case wnt to court, it was presented and prosecuted as a hate crime.

The media hype continued, and got louder when the national media also began to focus on hate crimes, which also had the unintended result of legitimizing the claims and calls made by the Cannon family to prosecute Tiesh's murder as a hate crime.

PARENT'S LOSS AND PAIN:
'"The boy was found guilty of manslaughter in the first degree," said Roxanne Green, the mother of Moses Cannon in an interview with CNY VISION a year later.

According to Green, the trial and verdict in the case proved to be a total disappointment. She didn't like the entire proceedings and waged a fight to get true justice. Though it was being prosecuted as a hate crime, she disagreed with certain aspects of the prosecution and made an effort to get the authorities to consider her viewpoints. It was to no avail. The perpetrator of the crime was given a sentence she thought was too lenient.

"People get more time for selling drugs. He would be out in twenty five years,'" he said.

As for Mahmoud, the Ethiopian immigrant beaten to death, his case is closed as far as the criminal justice system is concerned. No one, including the African community has asked any questions.