James Dixon, the 25-year-old man accused of killing a transgender woman named Islan Nettles in 2013, felt that his "manhood" was threatened after he tried to flirt with Nettles.
According to the NY Daily News,
retired New York Police Department Detective Thaddeus Hall questioned
Dixon. "There's something that leads up to the altercation, so what
transpired?" Hall asked, the News reported. "Did you try to holler at her?"
During the questioning, Dixon told
Hall that yes, he was "trying to seduce Nettles" until he heard his
friends shout, "That's a man!" He also mentioned that his friends
"clowned" him for previously flirting with other transgender women.
While being questioned, Dixon said "I just didn't want to be fooled,"
the News reported.
In a statement written by Dixon himself,
after he asked Nettles if she was once a man, he dealt a swift punch to
Nettles. Nettles fell to the ground, and later died from a brain
injury. Brutal attacks like these have killed over two dozen transgender persons in the United States, since Nettles' death in 2013.
"Across
the country, transgender women of color are disproportionately targeted
for violence and homicide because of who they are," Shelby Chestnut,
who is the co-director of community organizing and public advocacy at
the New York City Anti-Violence Project, told Mic.
"Right here in New York City we lost Islan Nettles to this senseless
violence. We are here to say that her life matters, that she matters,
and this violence must end. That the trial date start coincides with
Trans Day of Visibility feels important."
Dixon was charged in March with first-degree assault, as well as first and second-degree manslaughter," and could face up to 25 years in prison.
No comments:
Post a Comment