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On the Streets of DC
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 13, 2003; Page B02
About 100 children and dozens of frustrated adults yesterday honored the lives and mourned the deaths of two transgender teenagers killed in Southeast Washington a year ago.
The slayings, which galvanized the small transgender community in Washington, remain unsolved. But D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey told those who gathered yesterday that detectives are close to making an arrest.
"What we have is some promising stuff. We need just a little more information from the community to secure a warrant," Ramsey told the crowd gathered at 50th and C streets SE, the site of the killings.
Ramsey said a $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the slayings of Deon Davis, 18, who was known as Ukea, and Wilbur Thomas, 19, who went by Stephanie. They were male but lived as women, and friends said their lifestyles may have been one of the reasons they were killed.
"Police still won't actually call it a hate crime," said transgender activist Earline Budd. "But we have heard rumors and had conversations with people in the community saying they were killed by two men who picked them up and did not know the all-and-all about their sexual origin."
Police have not pinned down a motive or ruled out the possibility that the killings were the result of a hate crime, said Lt. David Jackson. The teenagers both had at least 10 bullet holes in their bodies, leading police to suspect that the killings were perhaps motivated by hate and committed by someone who knew them.
©2003 The Washington Post Company
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