Man repeatedly stabbed trans woman after she turned him down. Police say he was going to rape her
Robert Easley. (Philadelphia Police Department)
A man, Robert Easley, has been accused by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, police of attempting to rape a trans woman and, as she fought back, stabbing her multiple times.
Easley, 45, met the unnamed victim, 32, and took her to his home on the 200 block of East Montana Street at around midnight Saturday (20 March), according to abc6.
Investigators claim that Easley made sexual advances on the victim. Tearing her clothing as a scuffle broke out on the second floor of the property.
As she attempted to push him away, Robert Easley grabbed a nearby knife and allegedly stabbed her several times.
The suspect’s mother, whom he lives with in the Germantown neighbourhood, had phoned police around this time. She complained about a fight on the second floor, police said.
Police entered the property to see the trans woman fleeing downstairs, drenched in blood, only to collapse in front of their feet.
The victim was rushed to the Einstein Medical Center in critical condition, the force said.
The Philadelphia Police Department has charged Easle with attempted rape, aggravated assault and sexual assault-related offences.
Violence against trans people, especially women, is on the rise in the US
Celena Morrison, director of the mayor’s office of LGBT+ affairs, told the outlet that the incident captures how “scary” it is to be a trans person.
“Often when community folks hear about these crimes, the immediate thought is to assume that the person was deceived by not knowing the trans-identified person’s identity,” Morisson said.
“And that is largely not the case at all.”
Violence against trans people has for years swelled in the US, LGBT+ advocates say.
In less than three months this year alone, the community has mourned: Tyianna Alexandra, Samuel Edmund Damián Valentín, Bianca Bankz, Dominique Jackson, Fifty Bandz, Alexus Braxton, Chyna Carrillo, Jeffrey “JJ” Bright and Jasmine Cannady, Jenna Franks and Diamond ‘Kyree’ Sanders.
And top activists already anticipate this year is one the most deadly years for trans and gender nonconforming folk since records began.
