Derek Whitener
Theater director/actor Derek Whitener remains hospitalized in Dallas after being attacked by two masked men outside the Target store on Haskell on Saturday night, Jan. 14.
Friends confirmed to Dallas Voice that Whitener is a member of the LGBT and that he was not robbed in the attack. Some of his friends are calling the attack an anti-gay hate crime.
Dallas Morning News reports that Whitener, 33, stopped at the Target on his way home after performing as Leaf Coneybear in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Firehouse Theatre in Farmer’s Branch, where is he is artistic and education director.
Reports say that one of the men was wearing a ski mask and the other was wearing a monkey mask. One of them hit Whitener on the head with a pipe, fracturing his skull. Friends said he has undergone brain surgery
