I do try to keep the stories I report on current, which means that sometimes I let some stories slide on by because they've got a little stale while I was reporting on other stories (which were not necessarily more important, but we all have to make choices)...and also that sometimes I report on a story before it is complete.
I want to make amends for some of that in this diary.
Alexia Dupree was discovered by a stranger in back of a church on October 15. She had a head injury, had been stabbed in the back and had a punctured lung.
WMC Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee
James Houston is Dupree's friend. He told police that Alexia is homeless and transgender and was likely sleeping in the stairwell of the church. Alexia "says" that a man found her there, dragged her down the stairs, beat her with a brick, stabbed her, took her purse and ran away.
She has tubes down her throat. She can make movement, but is unable to speak.
--Houston
Alexia is at
Regional Medical Center. She has been in and out of surgery.
Very heart filled, loving, kind person. It’s so shocking that someone would do this, because she would give the clothes off her back to help someone else.
--James Houston
To have them targeted, in addition to what they’re going through, it’s sad.
--Steve Carpenter, Memphis Union Mission, speaking about attacks on homeless people
Carpenter said homeless people are often attacked as part of a gang initiation.
We talk to them and find out it was a part of an initiation where maybe a group of young people beat them up really bad.
Police do not think this attack was gang-related.
Dupree has been upgraded to critical condition.
Carpenter said it’s terrible to see: people taking advantage of the most vulnerable in the city.
Houston agreed, saying, “We are all human, and no one should hurt another person.”
Police do not believe this was a hate crime, but add that her appearance may have made her an easy target.
The Native American transgender woman who was attacked by four men and beaten and kicked in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and struck in the head by a piece of Plexiglas is said to be doing better.
The aggressors shouted anti-gay slurs while beating the victim.
She’s doing better,” , told ICTMN. “She has no memory of the attack.
--Kate Barnhart, director of New Alternatives for Homeless LGBT Youth
The victim suffered traumatic brain injury and had a section of her skull removed to allow for the swelling of her brain.
Since the victim had not been able to speak, she has not given permission for her name to be released.
Police have offered a $2000 reward for information regarding the attackers.
The reward seems low. I’m concerned about whether the detectives are working as hard as they should be.
--Barnhart
Police posted some fliers in the area. LGBTQ community members posted more.
Marine PFC Joseph Scott Pemberton, who allegedly strangled and then drowned Filipina transgender woman Jennifer Laude in a motel toilet has been transferred to Philippine detention. The reason for the transfer seems to be the decommissioning inspection of his amphibious assault ship, the USS Peleliu.