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String of transgender murders could be the work of a serial killer, activists fear
Three trans black women have been fatally shot in Jacksonville, Florida, since the beginning of this year, and local activists fear that the murders are linked.
by Tim Fitzsimons / Jun.26.2018 / 7:56 PM ET / Updated Jun.27.2018 / 1:53 AM ET
Celine WalkerCourtesy WTLV
Three transgender black women have been fatally shot in Jacksonville, Florida, since the beginning of the year, and local activists fear that the killings are linked.
“The transgender community in Jacksonville is frightened,” Gina Duncan, a transgender-rights advocate with Equality Florida, said in a statement on Tuesday. “They fear this could be a serial killer or orchestrated violence targeting the community. They do not feel protected on their own streets.”
Celine Walker, 36, was the first trans women killed in Jacksonville this year. Police found her body on Feb. 4 inside a room at an Extended Stay America hotel in the city’s Southpoint area, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Antash’a English, 38, was found shot in the abdomen between two abandoned houses in northern Jacksonville on June 1, and she later died in a hospital, the sheriff's office said.
The body of the third victim, Cathalina Christina James, 24, was found at a Quality Inn and Suites on Sunday about 10 miles south of where Walker was found, according to the sheriff's office.
(A fourth transgender woman was shot multiple times on June 8 but survived. Local activists said the shooting appeared to be a domestic dispute, and they don’t believe the incident to be related to the others.)
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating the three killings as separate cases and released a statement saying that at this point it has reason to believe that the killings are related and are the work of an anti-transgender serial killer.
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