
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 18, 1990                   TAG: 9005180771
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/6   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium

JURY FINDS TEEN GUILTY IN BLACK YOUTH'S DEATH

A 19-year-old was convicted in the shooting death of a black teen-ager set upon by a white gang last summer, a murder that brought simmering racial tensions to a boil in the nation's biggest city.

Joseph Fama was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder by depraved indifference for the Aug. 23 death of 16-year-old Yusuf Hawkins. A mob of 30 bat-wielding youths attacked Hawkins when he entered the mostly white Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn with three friends to buy a used car.

The Bensonhurst case has been watched closely by the city. It may have contributed indirectly to the election of New York's first black mayor, and many feared an acquittal in the case could have led to violent outbreaks.

Fama shook his head slightly, then stared at the floor as the jury convicted him of the murder charge and 12 lesser charges.

He was acquitted of second-degree intentional murder and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Jurors said they convicted Fama despite a disagreement over whether he fired the gun.

Fama faces 25 years to life in prison when sentenced June 11 by Judge Thaddeus Owens.

A second panel deciding the fate Fama of co-defendant Keith Mondello was to begin its 11th day of deliberations today. Mondello, also 19, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, manslaughter and other crimes in the attack. Four other youths face trial later.

"We hope that this is the last time we ever have to try one of these cases," said Assistant District Attorney James Kohler. "But something tells me that we'll be back here again trying another one of these cases, until people learn how to get along with one another, and stop all of this racial hatred."

Many said the shooting helped end the 12-year reign of Mayor Ed Koch by convincing Democratic voters to select David Dinkins, his more softspoken opponent, in the September primary. Dinkins went on to become the city's first black mayor.

Although Fama was accused of pulling a .32-caliber automatic pistol and firing four shots, two of them through Hawkins' heart, jurors said they were not convinced that he was the triggerman.

But they said his decision to join the white mob in the attack was sufficient to find him guilty of murder for participating in the slaying.

Hawkins' parents, Moses Stewart and Diane Hawkins, sat holding hands as jury forewoman Tonya Bailey delivered the verdict in the packed fourth-floor courtroom.

When the first guilty verdict was read, Stewart let out a quick "Yeah!" Several of the 12 jurors, who had deliberated for 10 days, wiped tears away as the forewoman spoke.

by CNB