Police: Transgender woman beaten, shot to death in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia police are asking for the public's help in solving the murder of a transgender woman in Logan.

Investigators say around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, 22-year-old Kiesha Jenkins was dropped off at 13th and Wingohocking streets.

A few minutes later, police say five to six unidentified males began to beat her.

At one point, police say, one of the males pulled out a gun and shot her twice in the back while she was on the ground.

Police responded and transported Jenkins to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

"Right now we don't have any motive. We don't know if it's potentially a hate crime, if it was a robbery, we really don't know; it's too early in the investigation to tell," Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark said.

Advocates for the transgender community say this is a growing problem.

Nellie Fitzpatrick is the director of Philadelphia's Office of LGBT Affairs.

"It's time to do more than just solve each homicide as they happen. It's time to do more than just arrest these horrific people who commit these violent crimes. It's time to do the work beforehand. To look left and look right and know we have to get stand up with and stand up for our transgender and gender nonconforming individuals," Nellie Fitzpatrick, the Director of Philadelphia's Office of LGBT Affairs, said.

A woman who answered the phone at the Jenkins' home had no comment.

Police have not been able to locate the driver who dropped off Jenkins and it's unclear why she was in the area.

Police say she lives in North Philadelphia and her family lives in South Philadelphia.

But neighbors Action News spoke with say the park is well-known for transgender prostitution and it's an angle sources say police are pursuing.

Police have no suspects at this time and are searching the area for surveillance video.

There is a $20,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest or conviction.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the police.