A suspect in
the death and mutilation of Philadelphia transgender woman Dominique Rem’mie
Fells has been arrested in Los Angeles.
Akhenaton
Jones, 36, was taken into custody in L.A. Monday night and will be extradited
to Philadelphia, according to Philly TV station WCAU. Police had issued a warrant for his arrest in
June, a few days after Fells’s death, saying he would be “charged with murder,
possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and abuse of a
corpse,” NBC News reported at the time.
Fells’s body
was discovered in the Schuylkill River early in June. She had been stabbed several times and
had serious head injuries. Her legs had been cut off and were not recovered.
Police found a cutting tool and evidence of blood at Jones’s home in
Philadelphia.
Fells, 27, was
a dancer and aspiring fashion designer. Police had said Jones was acquainted
with her, but they have not said what they believe his motive was. Fells is one
of at least 34 trans or gender-nonconforming Americans to die by violence this
year.
Protests this
summer over the killings of Black Americans often noted trans victims,
including Fells. Sen. Kamala Harris (now vice president-elect) and actress
Kerry Washington were among those who spoke out about Fells’s death, along with
her loved ones.
“Our goal in
all of this, if any good can come from this, is that we’re going to keep
Dominique’s memory alive,” Germyce Williams, Fells’s aunt, told Insider in June. “We’re going to just make the
general public more aware of trans issues. Trans are people too. And when we
say Black lives matter, all Black lives matter, that includes trans people.”
Family members
and activists expressed relief that an arrest had been made. “Karma has come back
full circle,” Fells’s sister Dior Edmonds tweeted. “Dominique
always gets the last laugh.” Philadelphia trans activist Deja Lynn Alvarez
praised the work of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, saying, “It’s
not often that we are able to get justice in our communities,” according
to NBC News.
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
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