3 charged with hate crimes in fatal shooting of D.C. transgender woman
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Prosecutors in the nation’s capital have filed hate crime charges against three men accused of robbing and killing a transgender woman last July.
According to court papers, Jolanta Little, 26; Monte T. Johnson, 21; and Cyheme Hall, 21, were driving around the district when they encountered Deeniquia Dodds around midnight July 4, 2016. Two of the defendants allegedly took Dodds’ purse and one shot her in the neck. She died several days later.
After allegedly shooting Dodds, the trio fled the scene and robbed another group in a different D.C. neighborhood, including another transgender woman, court papers alleged.
According to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, all three defendants pleaded not guilty on Friday. They remain in custody until a status hearing on April 20.
