A Philly man has been charged with the murder of a transgender woman found in his car during a traffic stop
The victim was found with a gunshot wound to her neck in the passenger's seat of a car during a routine traffic stop.
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When police pulled a Jeep Wrangler over for running a stop sign in Philadelphia’s Belmont section Monday morning, officers made a horrifying discovery.
The front seat passenger, Mia Green, 29, was suffering from a gunshot wound to her neck. She was pronounced dead at Penn-Presbyterian Medical Center within a half-hour.
On Tuesday, authorities charged the driver of the vehicle, Abdullah lbn El-Amin Jaamia, with the murder of Green, who was a Black transgender woman, according to a statement from the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs.
“This latest act of violence against a member of our community is a somber reminder of the epidemic of violence against trans individuals. It is a crisis that cannot be allowed to persist any further,” the office’s statement read in part. “The countless painful losses experienced during this year alone — especially within our transgender communities of color — remind us that there is much work to be done in the pursuit of full equality, respect, and justice for us all.”
According to police, around 8:10 a.m. Monday officers on patrol saw El-Amin Jaamia drive through a stop sign at 41st Street and Westminster Avenue.
When they pulled him over, El-Amin Jaamia got out of the car and told the officers his passenger had been shot, a police news release said.
The officers saw Green in the front seat with the gunshot wound to her neck and escorted the Jeep to Penn Presbyterian. It was unclear from the release whether El-Amin Jaamia was allowed to drive the vehicle or whether it was commandeered.
Green was pronounced dead at the hospital at 8:30 a.m.
Philadelphia trans activist Deja Lynn Alvarez did not know Green but said her death was “heartbreaking and infuriating.”
“When is society going to realize that our deaths are because of the stigma that they attach to us?” said Alvarez. “They keep wanting to blame it on us as trans people, but we’re not the ones putting out hate, stigma and bigotry. It’s society. I don’t deserve to be murdered because of who I am.”
Neither police nor the city have released any details about the motive for the shooting, the investigation that ensued, or what led to the murder charges filed against El-Amin Jaamia, 28, of the 2400 block of Seybert Street in North Philadelphia.
“While the details around Mia Green’s death are the subject of an ongoing investigation, we know that the loss of yet another trans community member of color is especially painful, no matter the circumstances,” the city’s Office of LGBT Affairs said in its statement.