The eyes of the African-American trans community and our allies will also be focused today on Washington DC and Milwaukee,WI as the alleged murderers of Deoni Jones and Evon Young face the legal music for their crimes.Inside I-495, 56 year old Gary Niles Montgomery after two psychiatric evaluations that declared him mentally competent to stand trial, finally gets to face a jury for the fatal February 2 attack last year on trans woman Deoni Jones at a NE Washington DC bus stop.
A few hours later in Wisconsin, Billy Griffin, the first of the five suspects involved in the murder of transmasculine Milwaukee rapper Evon Young goes to trial. They were all initially charged with first degree intentional homicide but Victor Stewart plead guilty June 5 to second degree reckless homicide and will be sentenced on July 23.
Ron Joseph Allen and Ashanti Mcalister are the next scheduled to get their day in court on June 24 and Devin L. Seaberry will be schedule to go on trial July 8. If they are convicted of first degree intentional homicide they are facing maximum life in prison sentences.
Will Deoni and Evon receive justice? We'll have to wait and see what happens as the legal maneuverings take place in those courtrooms in our nation's capitol and Wisconsin in front of the judges and jurors empaneled to decide the fates of those defendants.
Based on past cases involving trans murder victims and the outrageous verdicts that have come from past trials, it's a valid question for the African-American trans community and our allies to ask right now.
TransGriot Update: Devin Seaberry also took a plea deal to a lesser charge in this case in exchange for his testimony. In Washington DC, the Deoni Jones trial is once again held up by questions over Montgomery's mental competence to stand trial.
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