Carla Patricia Flores-Pavon, 18, is the 9th transgender woman murdered in the U.S. this year. Dallas police labeled her death a homicide after discovering evidence she was strangled: “Police were dispatched to the scene at 4:17 p.m. and confirmed ‘suspect choked complainant causing her death' and listed the death as a murder.”
Monica Roberts, a board member of Dallas-based Black Transwomen Inc., attended Sunday's vigil at the Cathedral of Hope on Cedar Springs Road and expressed disappointment that the murder was not being handled differently.
“These murder cases tend to be exceptionally violent and we fail to understand in the community why they aren't classified as hate crimes,” she said.
Police said a witness saw an unknown Latin male leave Flores-Pavon's apartment shortly she was found unconscious. However, no arrests have been made.
Watch NBC DFW's report above.
