Pocono News Section

Rendell Asks for Federal Charges in Shenandoah Beating Case

Rendell Asks for Federal Charges in Shenandoah Beating Case - Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 6:22PM EST

SHENANDOAH, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY- Governor Rendell isn't mincing words about a racially motivated homicide in Shenandoah, Schuylkill County.
On Friday, the governor, who is a former Philadelphia District Attorney, decried the handling of the case. He sent a letter to U. S. Attorney General Eric Holder, calling it a hate crime.

Rendell asks that Brandon Piekarsky and Derek Donchak be charged with civil rights violations. They're the two teens acquitted of charges related to the beating death of Luis Ramirez.

Last July, Ramirez was fatally kicked and punched, and left on a street by a group of as many as six teenagers, according to eyewitnesses.

Sources tell Eyewitness News, the U. S. Justice Department has been investigating the local police department's handling of the case.