Victim’s mother says her heart is broken after son’s death linked to New York gang preying on gay men

‘New York is unnecessarily unsafe, and it breaks my heart because John was so excited to be in Manhattan,’ mother says

John Umberger was discovered robbed and murdered in New York (Screenshot / TikTok / John Umberger)

The mother of a victim has spoken out about a New York gang that preys on gay men after her son was killed during a work trip to Manhattan.

The gang is suspected of cornering men at nightclubs in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan and is believed to have killed at least two people and to have drugged and robbed at least 12 other men, according to the New York Post.

The New York Police Department is investigating a number of killings and robberies, including the unexplained deaths of two young men in the spring, who were ambushed under similar conditions around five weeks apart within a two-block radius.

The two wealthy men were found without their phones and with their bank accounts having been ransacked to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. Both of the victims were last seen with three men, all unidentified, in the last few hours of their lives.

John Umberger, 33, a political consultant living in Washington, DC, was on a work trip to New York when he was killed. He disappeared during a night out on the town.

“I can’t be quiet anymore,” mother Linda Clary told The Post. “Word needs to get out, especially in the gay community, that they are targeting gay men ... This same group of killers have drugged, robbed and murdered countless young gay men in New York.”

Mr Umberger last used his credit card on 28 May at around 3am at The Q NYC, a gay nightclub at 795 Eighth Ave. He had visited the club by himself after attending a late dinner with friends at Tao Downtown in the Chelsea neighbourhood located on the western side of Manhattan, just to the south of Hell’s Kitchen.

At 3.15am that night, he called and then cancelled a taxi. He was last spotted on security footage with three unidentified men in a vehicle outside the townhouse where he was staying on the Upper East Side.

Footage recovered from buildings in the area shows Mr Umberger exited the car with two of the men. The men entered the townhouse with Mr Umberger and left without him about 45 minutes later, according to The Post.

Ms Clary said she doesn’t think it was her son who replied to six texts from his phone between 5.19am and 5.37am that morning. At 9.18am, the location sharing on the phone was turned off on the devices of Mr Umberger’s younger sister and his two brothers.

Ms Clary sent a text to Mr Umberger at 8.24pm, which received a “read” notification, leading the mother to think that her son was safe.

“I thought John was reading my texts but was too busy and ignoring me. You let a day go by, a day go by and then you say ‘this is weird’,” she told the paper.

Mr Umberger’s body was located four days later on 1 June in an apartment on the fifth floor of a townhouse at 34 E 61st St. It’s owned by the American Center for Law and Justice, operated by right-wing lawyer Jay Sekulow, who served as the lead outside counsel for then-President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial.

Mr Umberger was the director of diplomacy and political programs at the centre.

His mobile and his credit cards were missing when he was found, with more than $25,000 having been taken out of his accounts via apps such as Venmo and PayPal. Ms Clary said access was gained by changing the passwords. A failed attempt was also made at emptying his trust fund account with Charles Schwab.

His credit cards were then used at a Foot Locker and at a liquor store located close to a homeless shelter.

Five weeks previously, on 21 April, Julio Ramirez, 25, a social worker from Brooklyn, was seen on security footage leaving the Ritz Bar and Lounge, a West 46th Street gay bar, two blocks from The Q NYC, with three unidentified men at 3.17am.

About an hour later, he was found dead in the back of a taxi, with both his phone and wallet missing. Around $20,000 was removed from his bank accounts via apps such as Venmo and Zello and his credit cards were used for expensive dinners and spa visits.

According to preliminary toxicology reports, both Mr Umberger and Mr Ramirez passed away from drug overdoses. Evidence points to the possibility that they were “roofied,” meaning that their drinks were spiked with date-rape drugs, according to The Post.

“We need to stop this,” Ms Clary said.

“New York is unnecessarily unsafe, and it breaks my heart because John was so excited to be in Manhattan. He loved being there,” she told the paper. “He was a little ray of sunshine.”

Ms Clary accused the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office of “refusing to prosecute my son’s killers”.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan DA told The Independent that “our thoughts are with these families and the entire LGBTQIA+ community. A dedicated team of senior homicide prosecutors and specially assigned analysts continues to actively investigate alongside the NYPD as we await the Medical Examiner’s findings”.

An NYPD spokesperson told The Independent that “the Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation remains ongoing”.