NEW YORK—One of the men accused in an attack on a gay man who was killed while trying to escape is also gay, his lawyer said.

The claim, made public last week in court by a lawyer for Anthony Fortunato, appeared to be a strategy to redirect a case marked from the outset by allegations that the group targeted Michael J. Sandy because of his sexual orientation.

Fortunato, 21, is charged with murder as a hate crime and felony murder, a count requiring prosecutors to prove that the killing took place during a robbery.

Prosecutors have said that Fortunato was one of four men who lured the 29-year-old Sandy last October to a secluded spot, where they intended to rob him. But after one of the men punched him, he fled onto the busy Belt Parkway, where he was fatally struck by a car.

In fact, Fortunato’s lawyer said, Fortunato intended to tell his friends about his sexual orientation on the very same night of the attack. Luring a gay man out to a secluded spot was part of his plan, DiChiara said.