Police in St Louis have made a third arrest in connection to Sunday's deadly hammer attack on a Bosnian immigrant, charging a 17-year-old as an adult in the slaying. The arrests of the youths - among them two black teens and one Hispanic - in the death of 32-year-old Zemir Begic came as city officials struggled to tamp down speculations that the killing of the Bosnian man may have been motivated by race or somehow related to the ongoing unrest in Ferguson. 'There is no evidence that this was a crime occasioned by the race or ethnicity of the victim,' St Louis Mayor Francis Slay said in a statement Monday.
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Zemir Begic, 32, was surrounded by a group of teens wielding hammers
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The juveniles struck his car before Begic stepped out and was beaten
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He suffered damage to his head, abdomen and face and was taken to St Louis University Hospital, where he later died
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His wife says he pulled her out the way so he would be beaten
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St Louis police detained three suspects aged 15, 16 and 17 - two of them black and one Hispanic
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Robert Mitchell, 17, turned himself in Sunday and is being charged as adult with first-degree murder
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Mayor Francis Slay declared there is no evidence the victim's race or ethnicity played a role in the crime
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Police said Begic was not targeted for being Bosnian and did not say if there was a connection to unrest after Ferguson grand jury decision
The attack was not related to @placeholder protests taking place in the city, police say