Begins with video at source

Suspect in brutal beating of Ecuadoran immigrant caught smiling on camera minutes after murder

By Leo Standora, Erica Pearson and Alison Gendar
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Updated Thursday, February 26th 2009, 2:29 PM

From his laughing face caught on video, no one would guess Keith Phoenix had just beaten a man to death with a baseball bat in what police call a bias attack.

The 28-year-old murder suspect was all smiles as he pulled into an RFK bridge cash lane Dec. 7 - just 19 minutes after he beat Ecuadoran immigrant Jose Sucuzhanay to death on a Brooklyn street, cops said.

Police released the chilling surveillance video Thursday as cops hunt for Phoenix, who lives in the Bronx.

Another suspect, Hakim Scott, 25, was caught Tuesday and is awaiting arraignment on charges of second-degree murder as a hate crime.

Yelling anti-gay slurs, the duo attacked Sucuzhanay, 31, mistakenly thinking the real estate agent was gay because he was walking arm-in-arm with his brother, cops said.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Scott confessed.

"He felt bad and was glad to finally get it off his chest," Kelly said.

The crime spurred hundreds to march in Brooklyn in protest against racism and bigotry and drew condemnations from many politicians.

Mayor Bloomberg said Scott's arrest "will not lessen the terrible pain and anger felt by Jose's family and friends," but declared it shows "in this city, there is no such thing as a second-class citizen."

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn urged New Yorkers to "stand together to denounce such reprehensible acts," adding "we will not tolerate hate crimes of any kind."

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes branded the suspects "cretins" and warned "this kind of thing can happen to anyone."

Investigators said Scott admitted he and Phoenix were driving through Brooklyn in an SUV but denied they were looking to bash Hispanics or gays.

Witnesses said the attackers hurled anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs at Sucuzhanay and his brother Romel, 38, who survived the attack.

Police said as many as 30 detectives have been building a case against the suspects, starting with the SUV's license plate scribbled on a napkin by a taxi driver who saw what happened.

RFK Bridge employees helped by viewing hours of video until they found a shot of both men driving over the span on their way to the Bronx 19 minutes after the attack.

Scott's aunt Ella Moore claimed her nephew had nothing against Hispanics or gays, saying, "He's a good kid and this is sad."

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crim ... ran_i.html