Wanda Derby
The 25-year-old victim of an anti-gay hate crime in Richland Hills on March 28 has been interviewed by several TV stations over the last few days, showing the bruises he received during the attack.
Lloyd Guerrero was helping his neighbor move in after his neighbor had a falling out with his mother, Wanda Derby. Derby became angry and began beating Guerrero with her cane, according to police.
Derby, 71, allegedly called Guerrero “faggot” several times while beating him and trying to choke him. Guerrero told Dallas Voice that when he moved in with his mother a few months ago while in town on business, Derby began attacking him on Facebook.
Guerrero grew up in the apartment next door to Derby and was surprised by the virtual attacks, which escalated from calling him gay — something he said he isn’t open about unless asked — to writing that he has AIDS.
“That’s a social network. You don’t just go and blab something like that out,” Guerrero told Fox 4 News.
Guerrero said he doesn’t have AIDS and suffered minor scrapes and bruises during the incident.
Derby was arrested and released on a $11,500 bond Thursday. She faces second-degree charges for assault with a deadly weapon, but the charge is upgraded to a first-degree felony because of the hate-crime classification. She faces up to life in prison.
Watch some of the TV coverage after the jump.
Elderly North Texas Woman Charged with Hate Crime: MyFoxDFW.com
View more videos at: https://nbcdfw.com.
