Four individuals, including three teenagers, have been arrested in Renton, Washington, following an alleged hate crime attack on a 39-year-old transgender woman that left her hospitalised. The Renton Police Department said the suspects first argued with the victim on Monday evening before assaulting her later that day, hurling homophobic slurs during the attack.
According to police, the victim encountered the group at a local transit centre and asked them to stop harassing people. The group then charged at her, chased her, knocked her to the ground, and repeatedly assaulted her. The victim told officers she heard a transphobic slur as she fell and was choked by one of the attackers, fearing she would die.
Witness video of the incident showed the group violently punching and kicking the victim in the head and upper body, even as she lay on the ground. The suspects walked away while the victim remained on the ground. Two sibling suspects, aged 15 and 17, were arrested near the scene shortly after the attack. A 16-year-old boy was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of assault and a hate crime.
Police released surveillance images of the fourth suspect, identified as 25-year-old Ramodre Edwards, who turned himself in after being recognised by a family member on a Crime Stoppers website. Edwards has been charged with assault and a hate crime, with bail set at $300,000. The two sibling suspects face charges of assault, strangulation, great bodily harm, and a hate crime, and have pleaded not guilty. The third teen is on electronic home detention pending a charging decision expected on 23 September.
