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Police: Bridgeport man killed homeless person because he thought he was gay

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Elijah Humphrey, 32, of Bridgeport, fatally beat homeless man Daniel Engeldrum on the night of Jan. 11, according to local police. Engeldrum died in the hospital two days later.

Elijah Humphrey, 32, of Bridgeport, fatally beat homeless man Daniel Engeldrum on the night of Jan. 11, according to local police. Engeldrum died in the hospital two days later.

Bridgeport Police Department

BRIDGEPORT — A local man, previously convicted of assaulting a Stamford man because he thought the victim was gay, is now accused of killing a homeless man for the same reason.

Police said 32-year-old Elijah Humphrey relentlessly beat 49-year-old Daniel Engledrum, throwing him to the ground, because he erroneously believed Engledrum, who may only have been seeking a handout, made an overture to him.

Police said Humphrey admitted the victim had only muttered something indistinguishable before Humphrey attacked him.

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“I chopped him in his neck and I beat him up …I slammed him, it’s like rage man, it took over me man,” Humphrey later told detectives, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Humphrey was arraigned Wednesday afternoon on charges of first-degree manslaughter and first-degree intimidation due to bias.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Nicholas Bove urged Superior Court Judge Maria del Pilar Gonzalez to set a high bond for Humphrey pointing out the defendant’s prior bias conviction.

“This was a particularly vicious assault,” Bove said of the new arrest.

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But Humphrey’s lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Christine Schwartzstein, argued that Humphrey had successfully completed his probation on his last conviction and appealed to the judge for leniency.

In March 2018, Humphrey pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and second-degree intimidation due to bias and was sentenced to four years, suspended after he served one year in prison and followed by three years of probation. In that case, police said Humphrey assaulted the victim in 2017 because he said the man was gay.

“The allegations are quite serious,” the judge said of the new charges. She ordered Humphrey held in lieu of $1 million bond and continued the case to Jan. 31.

According to the affidavit, shortly before 9:30 on the evening of Jan. 11, officers were dispatched to Fairfield Avenue for a report of a man on the ground bleeding.

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Engledrum was found lying in a pool of blood. He was taken to St. Vincent’s Medical Center where he died two days later of blunt impact to the head, the affidavit states.

The affidavit states that detectives subsequently learned that the victim was homeless and living in a small homeless encampment on the front porch of the former church on Fairfield Avenue.

Detectives recovered surveillance video of the area, the affidavit states. That video showed a man, later identified as Humphrey, walking along Fairfield Avenue near the old church when he is approached by the victim.

The affidavit states that the two men have a brief conversation and Humphrey continues walking only to shop a short distance away and then walk back to the victim.

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The video then shows Humphrey repeatedly punching the victim in the head, face and body, the affidavit states.  Engledrum turned his back and began to run but Humphrey caught up to him, grabbed the victim around the waist and lifted him in the air before throwing the victim headfirst onto the pavement, the affidavit states.

Humphrey fled as Engledrum lay on the ground bleeding.

The affidavit states that Humphrey later told detectives that the victim had made a "mmm.mmm.mmm" sound.

“Do something like that…he’s ready to die, he’s giving his life up,” Humphrey stated according to the affidavit.

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Daniel Tepfer is a reporter with the Connecticut Post. He has been reporting on legal issues and covering criminal cases for many years.