Suspect arrested in murder of Orange County gay teen

An Orange County, Calif. couple has expressed “solidarity with our son and the LGBTQ community,” after their son’s body was found last week in Borrego Park in Lake Forest, about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Blaze Bernstein, 19, was reported missing Jan. 3 by his parents. His body was found after a week-long search in a shallow grave along the perimeter of the park. He had been stabbed repeatedly.

Samuel Woodward, 20, a high school classmate of Bernstein’s, was charged with one count of felony murder on Monday, Jan. 15, with a sentencing enhancement of personal use of a knife, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Blaze Bernstein was openly gay, and in an email to the Times, his parents suggested that his sexual orientation may have played a part in his murder.
Gideon Bernstein and Jeanne Pepper Bernstein wrote, “our son was a beautiful gentle soul who we loved more than anything. We were proud of everything he did and who he was. He had nothing to hide. We are in solidarity with our son and the LGBTQ community.”
Noting that the investigation is continuing, they added, “If it is determined that this was a hate crime, we will cry not only for our son, but for LGBTQ people everywhere that live in fear or who have been victims of [a] hate crime.”
Prosecutors said Woodward had picked up Bernstein at Bernstein’s parents’ home in Lake Forest after an “interaction” between the two on Snapchat. After investigators identified Woodward through Snapchat, he was unable to explain the “abrasions, scratches and dirt on his hands,” and could not provide investigators with a name or address for the girlfriend he claimed his visited after dropping Bernstein off.
Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas at a news conference Wednesday decried the “senseless murder of a young man who possessed a combination of a high-caliber mind and the heart of a poet.”
Bernstein wasn his sophomore year at the University of Pennsylvania. At a memorial service for the young man Monday at University Synagogue, those who spoke described Bernstein’s gift as a writer, his love of food and cooking, his humor and his never-ending ability to inspire others by simply helping them find the value within themselves, according to MercuryNews.com. The site also notes that Bernstein was “set to combine two of his passions by becoming managing editor of Penn Appetit, a student-run food magazine.”
PhillyVoice.com pointed to Woodward’s “disturbing pattern of online activity,” which included violent language and imagery, and a defense of the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of Southern pride.