A New York man accused of a hate crime for the 2013 murder of a gay man had used homophobic slurs during a verbal altercation with another gay man earlier in the evening, several witnesses testified on Tuesday.

The testimony was presented to jurors in opening arguments to bolster the prosecution’s claim that the alleged shooter, 36-year-old Elliot Morales, killed his victim “for no other reason than because he was gay”.

The charges stem from the shooting in New York’s West Village, considered by many to be the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the US. The prosecution alleged that Morales approached Mark Carson and Danny Robinson around midnight on 17 May 2013 and shouted gay slurs at the pair, calling them “faggots” and “queers”, at one point saying: “You look like gay wrestlers.” After a verbal altercation, Morales is alleged to have pulled out a gun and shot Carson once before fleeing. He was apprehended by police soon after.

In his indictment, Morales is quoted as telling police: “I killed him. He was trying to act tough so I shot him,” during initial questioning. That confession was later ruled inadmissible, as Morales had asked investigators if he should not have a lawyer present for questioning before making those statements.

The trial had been delayed several times, as Morales rejected four separate public defenders appointed to him by the court. Morales is now representing himself, having convinced a state supreme court judge that he is capable of mounting a defense earlier this month. Morales cited a paralegal course he completed while in jail.

An eyewitness, Philippe Danielides, testified on Tuesday that he saw the three men involved in an escalating, “heated argument” that night. Danielides said he saw a “Hispanic male” brandishing a shiny weapon at the other two men and tried to cross the street to get away when he heard a gunshot. In cross-examination, when Morales asked Danielides if the Hispanic male was in the courtroom, Danielides replied: “Well, he kind of looked like you.”

Also taking the stand on Tuesday was John Cherry, who managed a West Village restaurant at the time of the shooting. Cherry, who is gay, testified that earlier in that evening he saw Morales and another man, who both appeared to be intoxicated, urinating outside his restaurant and asked them to leave.

Cherry said that Morales then entered the restaurant, and got into an argument with another employee about whether Cherry had called the cops, during which Cherry alleged Morales opened his sweatshirt and flashed a gun. During cross-examination Morales spoke in the first person, asking questions such as: “You mentioned something about me unzipping my sweater?”

Conrad Caton, who was a waiter at the restaurant at the time also testified that Morales came in that night acting threatening and spoke to him. Caton, who testified that he is married with a wife, said he couldn’t understand why Morales was being nicer to him than some other employees that evening. “I didn’t get it at first but then he started using the F-word,” with prosecutors clarifying that the word was faggot.

Morales, who served 10 years for a burglary conviction in 1999, faces life in prison if convicted.