Twenty-eight year old Michael Sandy, who police say was assaulted by
three men in a hate crime last week, died Friday afternoon after being
removed from life support.Sandy had been in a coma since being beaten on Sunday in Brooklyn.
He was removed from life support at the request of his family.Nineteen-year-old John Fox, Gary Timmins, 16, and Ilya Shurov, 20,
were charged with robbery in the first and second degrees and assault
in the first degree, all as hate crimes.There is no word yet whether police will upgrade those charges now that Sandy has died.
Investigators say the men used the Internet to lure Sandy to an
isolated parking lot near Sheepshead Bay with the promise of a sexual
encounter.But when he got there, police say the men attacked him.
The confrontation eventually spilled onto the Belt Parkway, where Sandy was struck by a car.