Man indicted in murder of D.C. transsexual

A District of Columbia superior court grand jury earlier last week indicted a man for the murder of a transgendered woman, federal prosecutors announced Sunday. Prosecutors allege that Antoine Jacobs, 22, and Elvys Morales, 25, a transsexual performance artist who went by the name Bella Evangelista, engaged in a sex act on August 16. According to court testimony, Jacobs discovered that Evangelista was biologically male, later confronted her, and shot her three times. Morales was indicted for first-degree murder while armed, possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, and carrying a pistol without a license. The grand jury also charged that Evangelista was killed because of her sexual orientation. Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said that aggravating factor exposes Jacobs to the maximum sentence--life in prison without the possibility of parole--if he is convicted of the charges. Evangelista's shooting death was one of three attacks on transgendered people in Washington, D.C., during a one-week period last August.