Philadelphia Police Offer $20,000 for Information in Transgender Murder Investigation
A lawsuit accuses police in Columbus, Ohio, of using excessive force against black residents.A lawsuit accuses police in Columbus, Ohio, of using excessive force against black residents.Carlo Allegri/Reuters
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Polly Mosendz is a breaking news reporter for Newsweek. She was previously a staff writer for The Wire and associate editor for The Atlantic. Her reporting on the Islamic State has been recognized by a variety of organizations, including the Middle East Institute. Her writing has appeared in The New York Observer, The Commercial Observer, Cosmopolitan, Business Insider, Yahoo News and a variety of other publications. Born in Kiev, Ukraine, she is fluent in both Ukrainian and Russian. Mosendz attended the New School University where she studied media writing and American history. She lives in Greenwich Village with many books.
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Philadelphia authorities are searching for a suspect or suspects wanted for the murder of 22-year-old Keisha Jenkins, a transgender woman who was assaulted and killed on Tuesday.
Police arrived on the scene near Hunting Park just after 2:30 a.m., responding to a call about a robbery in progress and possible shooting. Officers found Jenkins had been shot repeatedly in the back. Emergency responders at Einstein Hospital pronounced Jenkins dead.
A motive for the murder is unknown, though activists believe that Jenkins was a transgender woman played a role in the violent attack. Advocates are drawing attention to her unfortunate and untimely death online through the hashtag #SayHerName.
"We do not know at this time if this murder is potentially a hate crime; the investigation is active and ongoing with the homicide unit," the police department said in a statement.
Jenkins is at least the 20th transgender woman—and the 18th transgender person of color—to be murdered in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
A $20,000 award is being offered for information which leads to an arrest and conviction in the case.
