UPDATE:: Transgender woman fatally shot in Maryland; suspect arrested
Gawker reports that a witness saw four or five teenagers surround Ziona, and an argument quickly ensured. Soon after, one of the men reached for his gun and fired.
On Friday, authorities arrested Rico Hector Leblond, 20 of Germantown, charging him in connection with Ziona’s murder.
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Zella Ziona, a 21-year-old transgender woman, was fatally shot Thursday evening in a suburb outside of Washington, D.C., police officials told BuzzFeed News.
Ziona is the 21st confirmed transgender or gender-nonconforming person killed this year — the highest number recorded by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), which tracks violence against LGBT people.
Ziona was shot in the upper body in an alley that separates the Montgomery Village Plaza and the Montgomery Village Crossing shopping centers in Gaithersburg, Maryland, police said.
The Montgomery County Department of Police has not identified a suspect.
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An initial call to 911 identified Ziona as a woman, Starks said Friday.
However, as Natasha Plotnikov, a spokesperson for the department, told BuzzFeed News, police later identified the victim as male because “the identification was [at the scene] and we went by the driver’s license.”
Starks also said that during Ziona’s media treatment, it was reported back to those at the scene that her gender was male.
“After deepening the investigation and speaking with family and friends,” Starks explained Friday, “it was learned that she was a transgender female.”
Detectives are asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact them at (240) 773-5070.
Transgender Woman Shot Dead In Maryland Shopping Center
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