Baltimore Alternative, March 1990

Johnny Depp Is John Waters’ ‘Cry-Baby’ Star-Studded Premier in Baitimore...page 21 Ж ^-'ГГ The BaIti'more MARch 1990 ALTERNATIVE Bizarre Turtle Attack: Gay-Bashing in Kentucky 50-Year Sentence Handed Down by Rex Wockner A white man who tried to murder a black man he believed was gay by beating him with a bumper jack, locking ‘him in a car trunk with a live snapping turtle, and then attempting to bum the car, was sen¬ tenced to 50 years in prison Feb. 16th by a Taylor County, Kentucky jury in Camp- bellsville. A second suspect charged in the attack is undergoing psychiatric evaluation and has not stood trial. The victim, Kirk Nash, 21, was as¬ saulted Sep. 14th in rural Campbellsville by Rex Melton, 23, and allegedly by Ricky Johnson, 19, who has not yet stood trial. Nash and Johnson were lifelong friends and Nash was acquainted with Melton. According to trial testimony, Melton and Johnson turned on Nash after he made sexual advances toward them while they were riding around in Nash’s car drinking. Key witness Robert Cox, a close friend of Melton, told the jury that Melton and Johnson told him “they had gotten into it and hit [Nash] with a bumper jack. One of them said the boy was queer and tried to get ahold of them. They said that he had tried to suck one of them.... They said .. _ \ _ Ricky Johnson, 19, has mental disorder and won’t stand trial. they were going to bum the car and had taken the car down Clark Road and drove it off in a holler,” Cox said. Cox reported Melton and Johnson's story to police the evening of the attack and police located the car some 24 hours later in a wooded area on an abandoned logging road. In trial testimony, state trooper David Grant said he found Nash locked in the trunk with severe lacerations about the head and with his head resting on a large snapping turtle. There was a strong odor of gasoline and charred paper on the trunk lid. Dr. Eugene Shively, who treated Nash at Taylor County Hospital, told the jury that Nash had been severely beaten and had multiple lacerations to the head. “Brain was coming out the lacerations to the forehead,” he said. Although it did not come out during the trial, sources say Nash had also been raped with a crow bar or stick, and at¬ tacked by the snapping turtle. The Ameri¬ can snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina, will eat human flesh. Nash survived the attack but is de¬ scribed as a “vegetable” and will be insti¬ tutionalized for the rest of his life. The verdict against Melton was for 1st degree assault, for which he will serve 20 years, and 1st degree arson, for which he will serve 30 years. The sentences will run consecutively. A charge of attempted mur¬ der was dropped after it was learned that Nash would not die. A psychologist testified during the trial that Johnson has a “borderline personality disorder” and is subject to explosive be¬ havior. Sources say Johnson has received Social Security payments for “a mental Rex Melton, 23, guilty of first degree assault and arson. disorder” for nine years and will likely never stand trial. Racism is believed to have been a fac¬ tor in the attack, as Melton bragged to Cox that he had “knocked a nigger in the head,” according to trial testimony. — Stan McKinney, news editor of the Cen¬ tral Kentucky News-Journal, contributed to this report. \ From the Ashes Masked actors and hand-carved figures based on Japanese-style Bunraku puppets in an exploration of man's varied relationship with his gods. March 7-18 at Baltimore's Theatre Project. Annapolis Sees First Major AIDS Demonstration AIDS Rally & Lobby Day Raises Awareness, Money for AIDS In Maryland by Garey Lambert Nearly 100 AIDS activists and their supporters demonstrated at the State House in Annapolis on Tuesday, February 20th to increase awareness of AIDS in the Maryland General Assembly, and to advo¬ cate for more money for AIDS education, outreach, and clinical services throughout the state. The demonstration was sponsored jointly by AIDS Action Baltimore and the AIDS Partnership Council. Participants in¬ cluded people from HERO, Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Chase-Brexton Clinic, the PWA Coalition of Baltimore, GLAAD, BE MORE (a new minority AIDS organi¬ zation), P-FLAG, and the GLCCB. Fol¬ lowing an early morning orientation ses¬ sion conducted by the AIDS Partnership Council, demonstrators assembled in the State House Square for a midday rally. Demonstrators carried banners and signs urging legislators to “Fight AIDS Not People,” to “Control AIDS Not AIDS Information,” and to “Stop Insurance In¬ discriminate Testing” among others. Many wore “Silence = Death” buttons. A large number of demonstrators addressed the Elizabeth Kaeton addresses rally crowd and read the names of those who have died from AIDS. Among those read¬ ing names was State Senator Ida G. Rubin (D-Montgomery County). Following the rally, many protesters spent the afternoon in the State House and in legislative offices lobbying state sena¬ tors and delegates. The Partnership Council’s Legislative Committee developed summary fact sheets on bills it supports, and those it opposes. Among those bills receiving support is House Bill 905, which would allow the state to continue paying insurance premi¬ ums for PWAs who are unable to continue working. House Bill 1172 is also supported by the Partnership Council. Though it would allow insurance companies to test for HIV, it would require informed consent and counselling, and would restrict access to test results. HB 1172 would also forbid in¬ surers from using sexual orientation, occu¬ pation, zip codes, or other arbitrary or dis¬ criminatory criteria for determining who would be tested for HIV. Stuart Harvey, a member of the Part¬ nership Council’s Legislative Committee and longtime AIDS activist, said he was pleased with the results of the day Lynda Dee, AIDS Action Baltimore’s President, said that she too was pleased, and that further demonstrations in concert with other AIDS organizations were being considered.