Texas police arrest suspect in 2021 murder of transgender woman Kier Solomon

Police in Arlington, Texas have arrested a suspect in the 2021 murder of a local Black transgender woman, Kier Soloman.

Arthur Morris Jr, 25, has been charged with aggravated robbery and one count of murder after a four-years-long investigation, the Arlington Police Department announced in a statement Wednesday. Morris is already in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, serving a seven-year prison sentence for an unrelated aggravated robbery conviction.

Solomon, who was 21, was found fatally shot in front of the Madrid Apartments on September 30, 2021 when another motorist encountered her in the driver's seat of her car with the door open and the engine running. She was taken to the emergency room of a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Solomon had lived with her grandmother in Dallas, and sometimes visited friends at a different building in Arlington. Law enforcement searched her phone, and discovered that she made plans to meet with an unidentified individual at the complex via an app.

Related: Kier Solomon, Texan Black Trans Woman, Shot to Death in Car

Detectives later learned of another incident that occurred two weeks before Solomon's murder, in which someone messaged a different victim on the same app and asked them to meet at the same location. The suspect, identified as Morris, allegedly brandished a gun, took items from the victim, and fired a shot at the victim’s car.

Investigators received multiple warrants in September, 2025 that allowed them to search the account. This revealed an email address and cell phone number that police said was connected to Morris, and records from the cell phone number that placed him at the site of the murder before, during, and after it transpired.

Detectives still do not have any evidence indicating that Morris was allegedly motivated by Solomon's gender identity, but the tragedy was another alarming case of fatal violence against trans people in the U.S., which particularly affects Black trans women. Solomon was one of 57 transgender people who died from violence in 2021.

“This investigation truly highlights the persistence and dedication of our detectives,” said Chief of Police Al Jones. “Sometimes we get that big break in a case right away and other times we don’t. What never changes, though, is our commitment to delivering justice for victims of crime and exhausting every possible lead to achieve that goal. I’m extremely proud of the outstanding investigate work that was done to solve this case.”