Stepanie Thomas/ Ukea Davis
The Background
Davis and Thomas met one another four years prior to their murder, as members of the Sexual Minority Youth Action League in Washington, D.C., as both were transitioning to living as women. Thomas was adopted at the age of three months, and according to her mother, Queen Washington, began to identify as female around the age of 8 or 9. Thomas had an accepting family, with support from her mother and siblings, while Davis was raised by a godmother who objected to her emerging gender identity.
Davis identified as transgender at age 15, and Thomas at age 14. According to family members, prior to their transitions to living as women full-time, both Davis and Thomas were regularly beaten up and harassed by people who thought they were gay.Both dropped out of school due to harassment. The two became friends, and eventually roommates, renting an apartment in the 5000 block of C Street SE. Washington had recently bought Thomas a car, because she didn’t like the idea of her daughter walking through their Southeast D.C. neighborhood at night.
The Murders
On the night of August 12, 2002, Davis and Thomas were visiting friends in a nearby apartment when they announced that they were going out to buy cigarettes. The two of them left at about 11:30 p.m. to buy cigarettes at a nearby gas station. That was the last time they were seen until 3:00 a.m. At 3:25 a.m., Davis and Thomas were sitting in Thomas’ Toyota Tercel at the corner of 50th and C Streets SE, less than a block from their apartment.
According to police sources, a black vehicle pulled up beside Thomas’ car. An occupant of the vehicle fired upon Davis and Thomas with a semiautomatic weapon, and then the black vehicle drove away. Another car approached, and a man got out to see what had happened. Davis was already dead, but Thomas moaned in response when the stranger nudged her to see if she was alive. The man fled when the black vehicle returned. The gunman got out of the vehicle and shot Thomas again before driving away.
Thomas and Davis were each shot 10 times in the head and upper body. By the time medical rescue workers arrived at the corner of 50th and C streets SE, both Davis and Thomas were dead. They died at the same corner where Tyra Hunter, an African American transgender woman, lay dying five days and seven years earlier as laughing fire department medical technicians withdrew emergency care upon discovering Hunter was transgender. Hunter died at D.C. General Hospital two hours later, after also having been denied by denied treatment by a doctor. A civil suit ended in a $1.75 million settlement between the city and Hunter’s mother.
The same fire company that responded to Hunter’s accident seven years earlier, Engine Company 30, also responded to the murders of Thomas and Davis. According to witnesses at the crime scene, Thomas’ and Davis’ bodies were dragged from Thomas’ car, and Thomas’ body was dropped face first on the ground. A firefighter later turned Thomas bleeding body over with his foot.
Motive
Police said officially that there was no clear motive in the murders of Davis and Thomas, but they could not dismiss the possibility that the murders were a hate crime. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D, D.C.) wrote to police chief Charles Ramsey asking that the murders of Davis and Thomas be investigated as a hate crime. Ramsey responded with assurances that the murders were being investigated as hate crimes, among other possible motives.
According to Sgt. Brett Parson, of the D.C. police department’s gay and lesbian liaison unit, said that the nature of the shooting, and the number of rounds fired, suggested the murders were “personal” to some degree. Earline said that there were rumors in the community that Davis and Thomas were killed by men who had picked them up without knowing they were transgender. According to family members, upon living as women full-time successfully, Davis and Thomas began to be “accosted” by the men in their neighborhood.
Washington’s mother said she believed her daughter was killed because of her gender identity. According to family members, both Thomas and Davis were “out” about being transgender. Thomas’ mother said everyone in the neighborhood knew Thomas and knew she was transgender. Davis’ sister, Rochelle, said Davis was always “up front” with potential suitors about being transgender.
Who is
Tyra Hunter you ask, well she was a transgender person who died on the streets of D.C years ago and was refused treatment due to her personal life decision. Can't we all just get along!
Emonie Spaulding (Sunset- August 21, 2003) was an African American transgender woman from Washington, D.C. On August 21, 2003, she was shot to death by Derrick Antwan Lewis after Lewis discovered Spaulding was transgender
Spaulding, 26, had live in Washington D.C. for two years, and had previously lived in Springfield, MA, and Henderson, NC. Her uncle, John Marshall, remembered her as a child who enjoyed music and sang in the church choir. She was part of a group of friends who frequented an apartment on Mellon Street SE, and the Players lounge, a nightclub in southeast D.C.
The Murder
Spaulding was last seen at 1:15 a.m. on August 21, leaving the Mellon Street apartment, headed to a 24-hour convenience store. At 2:00 a.m., police received report of gunshots being heard in the area of Second Street and Malcolm X Avenue SE.2) Upon responding to the call, police found Spaulding’s nude body in a grassy area seven feet from the street. Spaulding had been shot in the left arm and in the chest. Spaulding also suffered severe blows to the head. No clothing or shell casings were found near Spaulding’s body, leading police to believe she had been shot elsewhere and brought to the location. Her clothing was discovered the next day, dumped on a nearby street.
Spaulding was declared dead at the scene, and was identified at the scene by friends. Her uncle was unable to confirm her identity from the photo he was shown at the medical examiner’s office.
Spaulding was the second transgender woman to be shot, and the second to be killed, in D.C. in less than six days. Her murder came just five days after Bella Evangelista was shot and killed. Dee Andre, another transgender woman, was shot and wounded on the same day as Spaulding.
Investigation
Investigators got their first break in the case upon discovering that Spaulding’s phone had been stolen at the time of the murder. A witness who knew Spaulding informed police of her phone number. Police traced calls placed from the phone and discovered a call was made six minutes after the 911 call reporting gunshots in the area where Spaulding’s body was found, leading to the identification of a suspect in Spaulding’s murder.
The call was placed to a Maryland woman who loaned her car to Lewis on the night Spaulding was killed. The woman told investigators that she had let Lewis borrow her car that night, and that the front area of the car was spattered with blood when he returned it. When he returned the car, Lewis explained to the owner that the blood came from a cut on his hand, received in a fight at a strip club. However, DNA analysis linked the blood spots to Spaulding, and fibers pulled from Spaulding’s clothing were a likely match for the carpet in the car.
The woman also told police that her .38 caliber revolver was missing. Investigators believed, based on bullets recovered from Spaulding’s body, that the weapon used in her murder could have been a .38. Lewis also had carried a gun because he worked in a strip club, and part of his job was to escort dancers to their cars.
Arrest, Arraignment & Release
On August 26, police raided a house in search of Lewis, but missed finding him. Lewis surrendered himself later that day at the headquarters of the D.C. police violent crimes unit. He was charged with second degree murder, and scheduled for arraignment the following day. Police said there was no evidence of premeditation, which is required for a first degree murder charge. Police also said it was unclear whether prostitution or a sex-related discovery had played a role in Spaulding’s murder.
On August 27, over the objections of police and prosecutors, a D.C. Superior Court judge ordered Lewis released on his own recognizance to await trial. The judge noted that Lewis had no prior criminal record, was employed at the time of his arrest, and was not a flight risk due to longstanding ties to the community.
Plea & Sentencing
On March 26, Lewis pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter while armed, saying that he did not want to inflict any further pain on Spaulding’s family. Prosecutors did not allege bias as a motive in Spaulding’s murder, as had been done in Bella Evangelista’s murder. The motive remained undefined until Lewis defense attorney spoke at the hearing. His attorney said that Lewis became angry upon discovering that Spaulding was transgender, and the two began fighting in the car. Lewis, his attorney said, drew the gun in order to force Spaulding out of the car. Lewis was sentenced to 10 years in prison. D.C.’s non-mandatory sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of 7 1/2 to 15 years.
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