4 arrested, including 3 teens, in alleged hate crime attack on transgender woman: Police
Four people, including three teenagers, have been arrested in connection with an alleged hate crime attack on a transgender woman in Washington state, police said.
The incident occurred Monday night near a transit center in the Seattle suburb of Renton, following an argument the 39-year-old woman told officers she had with the group earlier that evening, police said.
"When she saw them again, they chased her, knocked her to the ground, and repeatedly assaulted her," the Renton Police Department said in a statement. "During the assault, the victim says the suspects made homophobic remarks to her."
The woman told police that she initially encountered the group at the transit center "harassing various people," according to the charging documents.
"She told the group to stop bothering people, which caused the group to turn their attention on her," the documents stated.
The woman told police someone yelled a homophobic slur at her, and then the group "began charging towards her," and she ran away, according to the charging documents.
She told police she tripped and then heard someone in the group yell a transphobic slur at her, according to the charging documents. As she tried to get up, several people in the group began assaulting her, according to the documents.
The woman said one of the attackers choked her and that she began to feel weak, according to the documents.
"The victim said she believed she was going to die and thought this was the point that they were going to kill her," the documents stated.
Video of the alleged assault filmed by a witness showed several people in the group "violently punch and kick the victim" in her upper torso and head, including while she was on the ground, according to the charging documents. The group is then seen picking up their belongings and walking away while the woman is on the ground, according to the documents.
The woman was taken to a hospital with serious injuries, according to police. She suffered multiple broken bones, including a broken nose, a broken occipital bone, a broken orbital bone and lost consciousness during the attack, according to the charging documents.
Officers arrested two of the suspects -- 15- and 17-year-old brothers -- near the scene, police said. They have since been charged by prosecutors with second-degree assault and a hate crime in juvenile court, the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said. During their arraignment Friday at the Clark Child and Family Justice Center in Seattle, they both pleaded not guilty and were ordered to remain on electronic home monitoring, the prosecuting attorney's office said.
A third suspect -- a 16-year-old boy -- was arrested Thursday on assault and hate crime charges, police said. Officers identified him through his high school campus security team, according to court filings.
During his first court appearance Friday afternoon at the Clark Child and Family Justice Center, the judge found there was probable cause for the arrest on the charges and ordered that the suspect be released on electronic home detention, according to court filings. A charging decision for the teen is expected on Sept. 23, prosecutors said.
A fourth and final suspect in the case turned himself in to police late Thursday, hours after the Renton Police Department released images on social media seeking to identify him, authorities said.
The images were taken from police body camera footage, authorities said. An officer who responded to the transit center for a pepper spray report spoke to the suspect approximately 10 minutes before the alleged assault, according to the charging documents.
"A family member recognized the suspect's photo on the Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound website and convinced him to turn himself in," police said in an update Friday.
The 25-year-old man -- identified by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office as Ramodre Edwards -- was booked into the King County jail early Friday on suspicion of assault and hate crime, officials said. During his first court appearance on Friday, the judge found there was probable cause for the arrest on the charges and set his bail at $300,000, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said they expect to have a charging decision regarding Edwards on Sept. 23.
Attorney information for Edwards was not immediately available.
