February 4, 2012
Transgender Woman Stabbed to Death in Northeast
Michael K. Lavers READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Police continue to investigate the fatal stabbing of a transgender woman at a Northeast bus stop on Thursday night.
WJLA reported that several people flagged down a Metro Transit Police officer on the 4900 block of East Capitol Street N.E. near the intersection of Sycamore Road N.E. in Benning Heights around 8:15 p.m. to report that a person had been stabbed in the head. Deoni Jones, 23, was transported to PG Medical Center, but doctors pronounced her dead at 2:35 a.m. on Friday.
Police told WJLA that Jones was on her way to visit her best friend, Darnelle Barnes, at the time of the attack. It remains unclear as to whether Jones' attacker targeted her because she was trans.
"We are hurting bad," family member Judean Jones told the television station on Friday. "We are in uproar. I just need someone to come forward."
Officials have released a surveillance video that shows a person of interest near the bus stop shortly after the attack.
The Metropolitan Police Department offers up to a $25,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction of any person or persons wanted for a homicide in the District.
Based in Washington, D.C., Michael K. Lavers has appeared in the New York Times, BBC, WNYC, Huffington Post, Village Voice, Advocate and other mainstream and LGBT media outlets. He is an unapologetic political junkie who thoroughly enjoys living inside the Beltway.
