6 arrested for murder of bisexual Alabama teen Nick Hawkins

[My Everything]

 

After missing for three days, bisexual Alabama teen Nick Hawkins was found dead in an "illegal dump site" in Alabama's Walker County. Now, as many as six people have been charged in connection to the young man's brutal murder.

 

The 19-year-old was on his way home from a beauty pageant on the night of Feb. 13 when he called his mother and told her, "Someone is trying to kill me." After Nick's body was discovered, the Dora Police Department arrested Joshua Adam Reese, 21, on an outstanding warrant and labeled him a person of interest. In a news conference held on Feb. 26, police officially announced that they'd charged Reese with murder.

 

"We feel like our investigation shows that Joshua Reese is the person who shot and murdered Nicholas Hawkins," Walker County Sheriff Jim Underwood said at the news conference.

 

In addition to Reese, two other men -- Danny Lee Jarvis, 22, and Cory Daniel Conner, 28 -- have been charged with murder in Hawkins' death. The sheriff's office has also charged Colton Stephen Echols, 20, Tessa Jean Wise, 23, and Lawanda Marie Reese, 39, with hindering prosecution in Hawkins' murder. Lawanda Reese, Joshua Reese's mother, is said to have lied to investigators to aid her son.

 

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Nick's friends told Buzzfeed News that the teenager came out as bisexual while in high school. "He didn't care who knew," Sydney Rhodes, 18, said. "He would do my make up every single time I went to his house," said Rhodes.

 

Nick was proud of his bisexuality, a part of him that's been largely erased in news coverage surrounding his death, but he experienced so much bullying for being himself that he eventually dropped out of school. Hawkins was an aspiring cosmetologist and was just weeks away from obtaining his GED.

 

 

At a vigil for the teen, his older brother shared, "I know anybody who met him knows the person that he was, the bubbly personality he had. Walk in and he just, I don't want to say life of the party but...he stole the show. He had a wonderful personality. He had a wonderful smile...And even though I'm sad, I can't help but smile because I think about all the wonderful things that he had done, and all the people and lives that he had touched."

 

The New Civil Rights Movement noted that recent local news reports about the investigation into Nick's death have erased the fact that he was bisexual. National bisexual advocacy group BiNet USA shared in a statement why it is important to refer to bisexual identites of people lost to violence:

 

Although not enough information has been released to know if it was an act of violence due to his sexual orientation, it is important to note statistics show biphobia plays a big part in bullying and violence. It is equally important to note the bisexual erasure in several articles reporting on Nick, that don't include his orientation...Nick's orientation mattered to him, and his loss is certainly a headline for our entire community.

 

 

A study done by The Williams Institute in 2012 found that, although "gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals make up 3.5% of the population, sexual orientation-based hate crimes make up roughly 30% of reported hate crimes each year." Additionally, the Anti-Violence Project's 2014 report determined that "bisexual survivors of violence respresented 11.82% of survivors and victims of anti-LGBT violence in 2014, an increase from 2013 with 8.95%."

 

At the time of writing, authorities have not released any evidence or information regarding a motive for Nick's murder. LGBT Alabamians are not considered a protected class under the state's hate crime laws.

 

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To learn more about being bi, visit glaad.org/bisexual

 

http://www.glaad.org/blog/6-arrested-murder-bisexual-alabama-teen-nick-hawkins

 

THIS IS FUCKING DISGUSTING GET IT TOGETHER AMERICA

[S*NE]

   

[seokii]

This is so awful... oh my god...

i live in the US too, but in one of the more liberal states so i always forget just how fucking homophobic some parts of this country are. this is so terrible.

 

i see that the motive technically isn't confirmed but it looks pretty clear...

what kind of bastards kill a kid just because he's attracted to men?

i can't wrap my mind around this. he's fucking dead just for being bisexual...

 

"LGBT Alabamians are not considered a protected class under the state's hate crime laws."

this shit makes my blood boil

[YGMatt]

Jesus... Why is shit like this still happening? Can people get the fuck over others sexuality's. It has nothing to do with you.

[puellarum generatio]

wait, just because he was bisexual ??

what's wrong with those murderers peace of trash...

[Loketâ™”]

At a vigil for the teen, his older brother shared, "I know anybody who met him knows the person that he was, the bubbly personality he had. Walk in and he just, I don't want to say life of the party but...he stole the show. He had a wonderful personality. He had a wonderful smile...And even though I'm sad, I can't help but smile because I think about all the wonderful things that he had done, and all the people and lives that he had touched."

 

what a beautiful soul,i hope you live good in Heaven angel instead of this cruel world

[Channie Tatum]

I can't believe that the fact that he was attracted to the same sex infuriated others enough for them to kill him. The fuck were they thinking that he deserved his life taken just because he likes men? fucking disgusting

 

 

 

 

I feel so bad for him, I hope his soul finds peace...

[latte]

some people are so messed up.. to kill someone is wrong, but then to do it to someone for something as petty as who they love, which doesn't even affected them? absolutely shocking, this world is so cruel to people who are 'different' :<

[cantú]

That's sad, the fact Alabama is so oppressive still amazes me.

[seokii]

The fact that bisexuals/homosexuals get murdered and bullied for their sexuality isn't really brand new information. Everybody knows.

 

Not everybody knows... obviously, the US is still overrun with bigots.

which is exactly why we should report these hate crimes. bring them to light and get angry instead of being passive.

what if we just ignored these hate crimes? we'd never see any change. it would all just be brushed under the rug...

hate crimes should be highlighted because they're such a big issue.

[nutella]

it is Alabama, they really have low tolerance for stuff like this

People proudly drive around with confederate flags and swastikas. It is pretty shocking to see. They have nice people too but high up on the crazy with no consideration for minorities. 

[Big Stupid Jellyfish]

This is the deep south for you.

[Viridiana]

RIP... Imagine your child calling you at night, telling you people are trying to kill them. That's every parent's nightmare 

[Mariabell]

If proven guilty lock them up and throw away the key.

[......]

Murdered in the most backwards, ignorant, and illiterate region of the US (Deep South - Bible Belt) ... because of his sexual preferences... in 2016....

 

yup.

 

RIP Nick Hawkins.