By Arthur Brice

(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.

Members of the U.S. gay community are 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.

Authorities are investigating whether the killing involved sex, Guayama police Commander Hector Agosto Rodriguez told CNN affiliate WLII TV.

Guayama prosecutor Jose Bermudez identified the suspect as John A. Martinez, 26. Police had earlier described him as a 27-year-old man from the interior Puerto Rican town of Cayey.

Martinez was scheduled to attend a court hearing Tuesday night at which charges would be lodged, said Luis Bernier, a spokesman for the Guayama police district, which has jurisdiction in the case. The hearing was postponed several times throughout the day. Officials were waiting for a prosecutor from a nearby district, causing the delay, Bernier said.

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.

Sourece: CNN.com

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