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Tremon T. Hill is charged with first-degree murder in the death of transgender woman Dejanay Stanton, who was fatally shot last August.
A 17-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder in the August 30 slaying of Chicago transgender woman Dejanay Stanton.
Tremon T. Hill was ordered held without bail Sunday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. He was charged as an adult and faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Stanton, 24, died of a gunshot wound to the head. She was found on the city's south side in August, lying on the ground near her car, which had her purse and cell phone inside. An analysis of her cell phone records led to Hill's arrest.
Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Britt Steinberg said Hill had a sexual relationship with Stanton. He began exchanging text messages with her in July and indicated he was 18 and wanted to meet her at a hotel, the Sun-Times reports. Over the next few weeks they exchanged more than 400 messages, "in which Hill allegedly expressed he was interested in having sex with Stanton but not with a transgender person," according to the paper. Hill eventually said he was having suicidal feelings as a result of their relationship.
Hill texted Stanton the morning of August 30 and asked to meet with her. Text messages between the two ceased at the time of her death. In a search of Hill's home, police "found pants with 'small red stains' and other clothing that matched what surveillance video showed Hill was wearing the day of the murder," the Sun-Times reports.
Hill apparently did not enter a plea, but his lawyer pointed out that the cell phone records were the only evidence against him, and there was no surveillance video of Stanton's shooting. He was scheduled for a hearing on reconsideration of bail Monday.
Stanton's friends remember her warmly. "She was so sweet. Every time you saw her she had a smile on her face," LaSaia Wade, executive director of Chicago trans group Brave Space Alliance, wrote on Facebook shortly after her death. "She was just trying to live her best life as a young girl."
And her friend Terry Jones told the Sun-Times last year, "Everyone, no matter what their gender or sexuality, knew her. She was loved and never did nothing to nobody."
