Philadelphia man accused of killing transgender advocate Mar’Quis ‘MJ’ Jackson arrested in Nevada

Authorities arrested the Philadelphia man they say killed Mar’Quis “MJ” Jackson, a transgender man who was an advocate in the Philadelphia transgender community, and who had been on the run for months across the country.

Charles Mitchell, 40, of the 1800 block of Brunner Street in North Philadelphia, was taken into custody over the weekend by United States Marshals in Henderson, Nev., the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office announced Monday afternoon. Mitchell had been on the run since allegedly killing Jackson, 33, who was found dead in December in Mitchell’s backyard.

Authorities say Jackson had been beaten and left outside, with only a T-shirt and boxers on and without shoes, on a cold winter day.

Mitchell faces charges of murder, abuse of corpse, tampering with evidence, and related crimes. Authorities have said the motive for the crime was unclear. Jackson may have survived if he had received medical attention sooner, they said.

Police were called to the house in North Philadelphia on Dec. 14 and found Jackson’s body in the backyard. An autopsy later revealed that he died of multiple blunt-force injuries to the head, and his death was ruled a homicide.

Markiya Jackson, Jackson’s sister, learned of Mitchell’s arrest while she was out shopping on Monday afternoon. When she heard the news, she said, she started jumping up and down, screaming in relief that her brother’s killer had finally been caught.

“I cant even put into words what I feel now,” she said in an interview. “All I know is God is good. I prayed last night to my brother and God to get Charles off the streets.”

Last month, District Attorney Larry Krasner and other authorities, at a news conference alongside friends and family of other Philadelphia transgender people who had been killed in recent years, identified Mitchell as the person they say beat Jackson to death.

Jackson was killed just weeks after the slaying of Shahere “Diamond” Jackson-McDonald, a transgender woman who was found shot to death in an apartment on the 400 block of Manheim Street in Germantown.

Authorities have not released the names of any suspects in her death and are calling on the public to help with any information about the case.