Maryland
Suspect in 2021 murder of PG County trans woman sentenced to 48 years
District Heights man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder
Prosecutors in Prince George’s County, Md., announced in a virtual press conference on Jan. 24 that the man charged with the July 17, 2021, murder of transgender woman Taya Ashton, 20, who was found shot to death in her Suitland, Md., apartment, was sentenced on Jan. 10 to 48 years in prison.
Assistant PG County State’s Attorney Sherrie Waldrup, the lead prosecutor in the case, said the sentence came after DeAllen Price, 29, pleaded guilty in October to Second-Degree Murder and Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime of Violence. Price has been held since the time of his arrest less than a week after the murder.
Waldrup and PG County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, the county’s lead prosecutor, provided details about the case that had not been publicly disclosed at the time of Price’s arrest two and a half years ago.
“What we know in this case is that the victim in this case and the defendant knew each other,” Braveboy said at the press conference. “They had an intimate relationship with one another. And an argument ensued during one of their meetings in July of 2021,” Braveboy continued. “And from there, unfortunately, their argument led to this tragedy.”
Waldrup called the case highly complicated because up until the time of the sentencing the motive for the murder remained unclear, even though many in the community believed it was based on Taya Ashton’s status as a transgender woman.
“We didn’t have any definitive evidence to show that until sentencing,” Waldrup said, adding that there were no witnesses to the incident and initial evidence was mostly circumstantial. “And when it came time for the sentencing, the defendant did offer that clarity, if you will, as to why this happened,” she told news conference attendees.
“He spoke at sentencing and told the court that he was engaged in an intimate relationship with Taya,” the prosecutor said. “And that evening was when he first learned that Taya was not born a female. And in response to that he reacted and shot her.”
Added Waldrup, “That was just a chilling thing to hear. It’s horrifying, it’s unacceptable. It is certainly not an excuse or justification for what happened to Taya.”
In response to a question from the Washington Blade asking if defendant Price might have been attempting to invoke the so-called trans panic defense, which defense attorneys have used in murder cases where the victims were transgender or gay or lesbian, Waldrup said neither Price nor his attorney used that defense.
She noted that in Maryland, like in many other states and D.C., the “panic” defense is prohibited by law when attempted to be used based on a victim’s gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, and other factors.
“Taya was somebody who was loved by her family,” Waldrup said. “She loved her family immensely. Taya was somebody who, although being part of what some may consider a marginalized community, was not marginalized in how she interacted with Prince George’s County,” Waldrup concluded.
“So, today, what we want to send is the message that regardless of how someone wants to live or chooses to live, because this is a free country,” Braveboy told the press conference.
“People can live how they want to live and that does not give an individual the right to commit violence against them or to take their life, period. End of story,” she said. “And when they choose violence, we will hold them accountable. And today, and now, Mr. Price has been held accountable.”
Braveboy said she and her team of prosecutors have and continue to be committed to aggressively prosecuting crimes targeting members of the LGBTQ community. She noted that her office created an LGBTQIA+ Task Force to provide support on matters impacting that community.
Others who spoke at the press conference included PG County Council member Krystal Oriadha, PG County Deputy Police Chief Zachary O’Lare, and Renee Lau, an official with Baltimore Safe Haven, a transgender and LGBTQ services organization
Cameroon
Gay Cameroonian immigrant will be freed from ICE detention — for now
Ludovic Mbock’s homeland criminalizes homosexuality
By ANTONIO PLANAS | An immigration judge on Friday issued a $4,000 bond for a Cameroonian immigrant and regional gaming champion held in federal immigration detention for the past three weeks.
The ruling will allow Ludovic Mbock, of Oxon Hill, to return to Maryland from a Georgia facility this weekend, his family and attorney said.
“Realistically, by tomorrow. Hopefully, by today,” said Mbock’s attorney, Edward Neufville. “We are one step closer to getting Ludovic justice.”
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Md. Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus outlines 2026 priorities
Expanded PrEP access among objectives
Maryland’s Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus outlined legislative priorities for the remainder of the General Assembly’s 2026 term during a press conference on March 5.
State Del. Kris Fair (D-Fredrick County) led the press conference. State Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County) and other caucus members also spoke.
Caucus members are sponsoring 12 bills and supporting four others.
Martinez is sponsoring House Bill 1114, which would expand PrEP access in Maryland.
“PrEP is 99 percent effective in preventing HIV transmission,” he explained, noting PrEP’s cost often turns away potential users.
The bill aims to extend insurance coverage and expand pharmacists’ ability to prescribe PrEP along with other HIV treatments and testing. Martinez is working with state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Anne Arundel and Howard Counties) and FreeState Justice on the bill.
The House Health Committee had a hearing last week that included HB1114.
“Ending the HIV epidemic is about expanding access and providing these life-saving tools to all persons in Maryland,” Martinez said.
Several other pieces of legislation were highlighted during the press conferences. They included measures focused on youth and education, birth certificate markers, so-called conversion therapy, and hormone medications.
State Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County) is cosponsoring Senate Bill 950, which would update and strengthen conversion therapy laws. State Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery County) has introduced an identical bill that would extend the statute of limitations on individuals who facilitate conversion therapy.
Kagan explained the bill would allow conversion therapy victims to come to terms with their experience undergoing the widely discredited practice that “creates shame and it silences survivors.”
When questioned, Fair explained the press conference happened late into the legislative session because “we [the caucus] are constantly having to respond in real time to what’s happening in Washington” while drafting and considering pieces of legislation.
The Frederick County Democrat described this session’s bills as the “most ambitious list of priorities to date.” Fair also described the caucus’s goals.
“It’s decency, it’s dignity, and its humanity,” he said.
Maryland
Md. Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs released updated student recommendations
LGBTQ students report higher rates of bullying, suicide
The Maryland Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs has released updated recommendations on how the state’s schools can support LGBTQ students.
The updated 16-page document outlines eight “actionable recommendations” for Maryland schools, supplemented with data and links to additional resources. The recommendations are:
- Developing and passing a uniform statewide and comprehensive policy aimed at protecting “transgender, nonbinary, and gender expansive students” against discrimination. The recommendation lists minimum requirements for the policy to address: name, pronoun usage, and restroom access.
- Requiring all educators to receive training about the specific needs of LGBTQ students, by trained facilitators. The training’s “core competencies” include instruction on terminology, data, and support for students.
- Implementing LGBTQ-inclusive curricula and preventing book bans. The report highlights a “comprehensive sexual education curriculum” as specifically important in the overall education curriculum. It also states the curriculum will “provide all students with life-saving information about how to protect themselves and others in sexual and romantic situations.”
- Establishing Gender Sexuality Alliances “at all schools and in all grade levels.” This recommendation includes measures on how to adequately establish effective GSAs, such as campaign advertising, and official state resources that outline how to establish and maintain a GSA.
- Providing resources to students’ family members and supporters. This recommendation proposes partnering with local education agencies to provide “culturally responsive, LGBTQIA+ affirming family engagement initiatives.”
- Collecting statewide data on LGBTQ youth. The data on Maryland’s LGBTQ youth population is sparse and non-exhaustive, and this recommendation seeks to collect information to inform policy and programming across the state for LGBTQ youth.
- Hiring a full-time team at the Maryland Department of Education that focuses on LGBTQ student achievement. These employees would have specific duties that include “advising on local and state, and federal policy” as well as developing the LGBTQ curriculum, and organizing the data and family resources.
- Promoting and ensuring awareness of the 2024 guidelines to support LGBTQ students.
The commission has 21 members, with elections every year, and open volunteer positions. It was created in 2021 and amended in 2023 to add more members.
The Governor’s Office of Communication says the commission’s goal is “to serve LGBTQIA+ Marylanders by galvanizing community voices, researching and addressing challenges, and advocating for policies to advance equity and inclusion.”
The commission is tasked with coming up with yearly recommendations. This year’s aim “to ensure that every child can learn in a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment.”
The Human Rights Campaign’s most recent report on LGBTQ youth revealed that 46.1 percent of LGBTQ youth felt unsafe in some school settings. Those numbers are higher for transgender students, with 54.9 percent of them saying they feel unsafe in school.
Maryland’s High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey reveals a disparity in mental health issues and concerns among students who identify as LGBTQ, compared to those who are heterosexual. LGBTQ students report higher rates of bullying, feelings of hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts. Nearly 36 percent of LGBTQ students report they have a suicide plan, and 26.7 percent of respondents say they have attempted to die by suicide.
The commission’s recommendations seek to combat the mental health crisis among the state’s LGBTQ students. They are also a call for local and state governments to work towards implementing them.
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