A transgender woman who was assaulted in broad daylight by a group of men in Dallas last month was found fatally shot Saturday morning, police said.
Police received a call about a shooting shortly before 7 a.m. on May 18; when they arrived at the scene, they found Muhlaysia Booker, 23, dead from a gunshot wound.
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Dallas Police Lt. Vincent Weddington attributed Booker’s death to “homicidal violence” at a news conference but did not provide more details.
Last month, Booker was in headlines after she was brutally attacked by a group of men who repeatedly punched her and kicked her following a minor traffic incident. The attack, which was captured on video and shared to Facebook, was being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Edward Thomas, 29, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault for the incident. In the video, the man police identified as Thomas could be seen repeatedly punching a woman on the ground as she struggled. Other men in the crowd kicked her before a group of women helped her get away. The police said that people in the crowd shouted anti-gay slurs during the beating, and that Booker was hospitalized with a concussion and a fractured wrist.
Thomas is no longer in jail and police are unaware of his whereabouts, but there is nothing at this time connecting Thomas to Booker’s death, Weddington said. CBS DFW reports that police have no suspects.
Police said they are still working to identify additional suspects that were seen in the video of the April beating, which occurred after Booker accidentally backed into a suspect’s car and tried to flee the scene, according to an affidavit obtained by BuzzFeed News. The suspect then allegedly ran Booker off the road to stop her, and allegedly threatened her with a gun unless she paid for the damages.
According to the affidavit, and as can be heard in the video, someone offered Thomas $200 to beat Booker following the accident. As he and several other men beat her, Thomas and others yelled, “That’s what your f— ass gets,” “Get that f— out of our hood” and “Shoot that punk ass,” police said.
Booker’s death comes at a time when transgender people face very high rates of violence and homicide. In 2018, at least 26 transgender people, most of whom were black transgender women, were killed through acts of violence.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings tweeted that he was “deeply saddened” to hear about Booker’s death.
At a news conference after she was attacked last month, Booker stood on a podium and faced a group of supporters, several of whom carried signs in support of transgender people.
“This has been a rough week for myself, the transgender community and also the city of Dallas,” Booker said. “This time, I can stand before you. Whereas in other scenarios, we are at a memorial.”
