CNN: Suspect Arrested In Gay Teen's Brutal Murder

Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, 19-year-old Puerto Rican man found Friday decapitated, dismembered and partially burned.

(CNN) — A suspect has been arrested in the slaying of a 19-year-old Puerto Rican man found Friday decapitated, dismembered and partially burned, police said Tuesday.

The Puerto Rican gay community is asking authorities to investigate whether the slaying was a hate crime because the victim, Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, was gay, said Pedro Julio Serrano of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

“The brutality of the slaying and the fact that he was openly gay leads us to believe it was very possibly a hate crime,” Serrano said.

The suspect, a 27-year-old man from the interior Puerto Rican town of Cayey, was scheduled to attend a court hearing Tuesday afternoon at which charges would be lodged, said Wilson Porrata Mariani, spokesman for the Guayama police district, which has jurisdiction in the case. Neither the suspect’s name nor a motive was immediately available, Porrata Mariani said.

Authorities are investigating whether the crime involved a sex-for-drugs transaction, Guayama police Commander Hector Agosto Rodriguez told CNN affiliate WLII TV.

The FBI was not directly involved in the investigation Monday, said FBI Agent Harry Rodriguez of the San Juan office.

“The FBI is monitoring this investigation by police in Puerto Rico,” Rodriguez said. “Any assistance that the police requests or requires, we would be more than happy to provide.”

Puerto Rican authorities may ask for help with forensics or other advanced investigative tools the FBI could provide, Rodriguez said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in consultation with local officials and other agencies, would determine if the slaying was a hate crime, which is a federal offense.

“It’s at a very preliminary stage,” said Lymarie Llovet, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital.

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, which means federal agencies have jurisdiction.

“There’s the potential for a federal investigation,” Rodriguez said.

The suspect was arrested Monday around 11:30 p.m. AST at his home in the Mogote de Cayey neighborhood, Porrata Mariani said. Police impounded two cars and also are investigating a home in another neighborhood, Huertas del Barrio Beatriz de Cidra.

Lopez Mercado’s body was found on Puerto Rico Road 184 in another part of town, Barrio Guavate de Cayey, police said.

The slaying has reverberated throughout the gay and lesbian community in the United States, where supporters started a Facebook page called “Justice for Jorge Steven Lopez — End Hate Crimes.” The group demands an investigation by Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno and prosecution of the slaying under the Federal Hate Crimes Law.

The Federal Hate Crimes Law was enacted in 1969 to guard the rights of any U.S. citizen engaged in one of six protected activities, such as voting, going to school, applying for a job or attending a public venue. Last month, President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which extends federal protection to illegal acts motivated by a person’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.