On Thursday, February 2, 2012, at approximately 8:13 pm, a Metro Transit Police Officer was flagged down for an assault at a bus stop in the 4900 block of East Capitol Street, Northeast. Upon arrival, the officer located a transgender female, who was unconscious and unresponsive suffering from a stab wound. Units from the Sixth District and DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to the scene. The victim was transported to a local hospital and was admitted in critical condition.

On Friday, February 3, 2012, at 2:35 am, the victim was pronounced dead. The victim has been identified as 23-year-old JaParker Jones of Northeast, Washington, DC, who is also known as “Deoni” and “Logan.”

Detectives are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the subject crossing the middle of the intersection in this videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRonRazhiCA .The subject in the video is seen crossing the street toward the top of the screen as he approaches the bus stop. He is described as a black male with medium complexion, 30-40 years of age, with a beard. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a black jacket with a gray hooded sweatshirt underneath.

The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons wanted for any homicide committed in the District of Columbia.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411.

As of this posting on Friday (2/3) afternoon, there has been no news of this homicide posted on MPD’s SLU (aka, ‘SLD’) listserv, nor on MPD’s 5D and 4D listervs. So it appears there has been no widespread MPD request for information/ community help, nor has any alert been issued by MPD citywide.

Everyone at MPD should be reminded that LGBT people live and work throughout DC. And LGBT residents interact throughout their lives with many other people, *both LGBT and straight*– again, *all across the city*.

*ANYONE*– whatever their neighborhood of residence, work or recreation, and whether LGBT or straight– might be able to provide a lead to homicide investigators.

So if MPD is serious about putting an end to these transgender-related homicides, why isn’t MPD publicizing these homicides (and seeking everyone’s help) promptly on all their listservs, citywide?