Transgender Woman Dies After Assault in NYC

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

TRANSGENDER WOMAN DIES AFTER ASSAULT IN NYC
By COLLEEN LONG
— Aug. 23 1:29 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Hate crimes task force detectives were investigating Friday the death of a transgender woman who was assaulted last week on a New York City street and later died.

The victim, 21-year-old Islan Nettles, died Thursday, five days after she was attacked. The medical examiner's office will determine a cause of death.

It was the latest in a spate of bias attacks this year in New York. Sixty-eight have been reported, from yelled slurs to the May killing of a 32-year-old gay man in Greenwich Village. Police stepped up patrols this summer in response.

- snip -

Nettles and a friend, another transgender woman, were out Saturday evening in Harlem when they ran into a group of men, and one pounced, punching Nettles in the face, police said. But a witness who spoke to authorities initially did not mention any anti-gay remarks, and the suspect, 20-year-old Paris Wilson, was arrested on an assault charge.

After the attack, Nettles was hospitalized, slipped into a coma and later died.

The witness eventually told detectives about the anti-gay remarks, and the hate crimes task force took over the investigation. Detectives are looking whether the suspect had propositioned Nettles. Upgraded charges are possible following the medical examiner's ruling, police said. It wasn't clear whether Wilson had an attorney and his number was not listed.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/transgender-woman-dies-after-assault-nyc

[Harmony Blue]

1. This is so horrible

I hope they catch these losers.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Recommending this thread so that victims stories have more staying power. nt

[progressoid]

3. ...

[Marrah_G]

4. So horrible

[TBF]

5. Just saw this story on Facebook

and came on DU to see if anyone had reported on it. The Human Rights Campaign has the story up on their website -- http://www.hrc.org/blog/entry/transgender-woman-dies-following-brutal-attack-in-harlem

So very sad.

[srican69]

6. NYC is supposed to be open minded .. I think the perpetrators are purposely choosing

a big city to send a signal that they are not safe anywhere ...

bastards!!!

[Throd]

7. I doubt they put that kind of thought into it.

Violent assholes are available everywhere.

[Posteritatis]

10. New York has eight and a quarter million people in it

It could be the most tolerant, openminded, friendly city on the planet by any subjective and objective measures and there'd still be room for a couple of jackass oxygen thieves with that kind of population.

[JI7]

11. even liberal big cities have wingnuts and other bigots

it's never 100 percent.

[FrodosPet]

15. The perp was a "friend" of the victim

Not some random stranger.

------------------------------------------------------

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/transgender-harlem-woman-dies-days-assaulted-hate-crime-attack-article-1.1435038

~ snip ~

In the most recent assault, Paris Wilson, 20, repeatedly punched Islan Nettles, 21, in the face after he and a group of friends spewed slurs at the victim, cops said.

Nettles had two Facebook profiles — one identifying himself as man and using his birth name, Vaughn Nettles, and another as a woman.

Wilson was friends with Nettles’ “female profile,” the victim’s family said.

~ snip ~

[DeSwiss]

8. K&R

[damnedifIknow]

9. Mentally ill

Anyone who kills someone, besides clear cut self defense cases, is off in the noggin.

[Nevernose]

12. I can't really wrap my head around stories like these

How could anyone be so full of hate? And more specifically, how could anyone be so full of hate towards something so (for lack of a better word) trivial?

Maybe it's because I grew up in Las Vegas in an entertainment family, and so drag queens, female impersonators, etc, were just as normal to me as anyone else. But really it comes down to someone walking down the street and thinking, "That stranger isn't wearing the same or similar attire to what I am wearing. I should probably kill them for it."

I am totally unable to grasp the illogic of it, and barely able to grasp the enormous waste of human lives.

[FrodosPet]

16. Not a stranger. More like "transgender shock"

The perp was "Facebook friends" with the victim.

[sgsmith]

13. And another killed, Fontana Calif

http://ktla.com/2013/08/23/police-search-for-suspected-murderer-who-fled-in-victims-car/#axzz2cqxCnyJH

FONTANA, Calif. (KTLA) — Police continued their search on Friday for an 18-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of a transgender woman in Fontana.

Dantiier Powell may be trying to leave the state, possibly by bus, police said.

Powell was described as black, 5 foot 8 inches tall and 155 pounds, with an average build and dark complexion.

He was believed to be traveling with 25-year-old Jamie Nicole Cotton, of Highland.

Powell was being sought in the murder of 31-year-old Domonique Newburn, who friends said was a transgender woman.

[blackspade]

14. And these assholes will likely do little time in prison.

Despicable.

I guess the cops were too busy doing 'stop-and-frisk' to stop actual crimes.

[markpkessinger]

17. Yep . . .

. . .after all, they have to keep prison beds open for all those violent pot smokers . . .