NYPD Releases Sketch Of Suspect Wanted In Beating Of Journalist Randy Gener
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A family was desperate for answers Monday night, in the wake of the brutal beating of a well-known New York theatre journalist.
As CBS 2's Jessica Schneider reported, the family of Randy Gener came together to pray Monday evening, as police released new clues about the suspect.
"Please, Lord Jesus," said Stephen Nisbet, Gener's husband. "Heal my friend. Heal my partner. Heal my husband and bring him back to all of us."
Nisbet has been by Gainer's side for 19 years. He was by his husband's hospital bed, as the 45-year-old journalist recovers from the violent attack and subsequent brain surgery.
"I truly believe he is being healed by the prayer force coming into his body," Nisbet said.
Gener -- an award-winning arts journalist who has worked for the New York Daily News, The New York Times, the Village Voice and NPR — was attacked near West 54th Street and Seventh Avenue in the early hours of Jan. 17 and left in a pool of his own blood, WCBS 880′s Monica Miller reported.
He was feet just away from his apartment building at the time, returning home from an opening night theatre party on Broadway.
"Three more minutes he would have been in his own bed," Nisbet said.
Instead, Gener was badly beaten across the street from his apartment.
"He got hit really hard on the head so he suffered traumatic brain injuries," Nisbet said.
Police believe the attack was a possible bias crime because his wallet was not stolen, CBS 2's Weijia Jiang reported.
"The whole experience is incomprehensible," Nisbet said. "I keep waiting to wake up from this dream, but it's not happening."
Gener was listed in stable condition at St. Luke's Hospital as of Monday.
He is active in the city's Filipino and gay communities.
"I am, as all of you are, just totally shocked that such a peaceful and cultured man would receive such a violent assault," businesswoman Loida Nicolas-Lewis said at the vigil.
The suspect is described as an Hispanic male in his 20s, approximately 6 feet tall and about 160 pounds with short black hair, police said. He was last seen wearing black jeans and a black jacket.
Police said the suspect fled in a grey four door Nissan with Mississippi license plate number KAT-397.
The critical information all came from a tipster.
"He doesn't remember at all what happened that night. It had to have come from somebody who heard our pleas," Gener's sister Jessica Blair-Driessler told Jiang.
The family is again hoping someone will hear their pleas and turn in whoever was responsible for the attack.
"We're focused on his recovery, but part of that process is finding the person who did this and understanding why," the victim's sister told Jiang.
Now, pleas have been coming in from the entire Filipino community.
"One thing is for sure -- justice will be served in the end," said New York Philippine Consul General Mario Lopez de Leon Jr.
Anyone with information is asked to call 800-577-TIPS.
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