Trans woman brutally beaten in Queens in possible hate crime

A 35-year-old trans woman was brutally beaten and robbed in Jackson Heights, Queens, early Sunday morning, and investigators are trying to discern whether the attack was a hate crime.

“The 35-year-old victim was attacked by a man in front of her home on 93rd Street near 37th Place before 4 a.m.,” DNAinfo reports.

According to witness accounts, the victim was about to enter her home when the attacker began his assault, the Daily News stated. Witnesses say that the attacker was undeterred by people yelling for him to stop and that officers were coming to the scene.

The attacker then reportedly dragged the victim to the curb and proceeded to beat the victim’s head into the curb before fleeing.

The victim, who has not been identified, was in critical condition when officials took her to Elmhurst Hospital Center, the report added.

The attack was reported as a robbery but is now being investigated to see whether it was a hate crime.

Residents of the neighborhood expressed their dismay and told DNAinfo that trans women encounter a lot of harassment in the neighborhood.

“There’s so many trans people, but they don’t do anything,” local bike shop owner Jimmy Flores told DNAInfo. “But there’s a lot of drunk people in the street and they bother those people.”

Police are looking for any information on the case that can help apprehend the suspect, described as a Hispanic male roughly 200 pounds, 5-foot-8 and in his 30s.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article referred to the victim of the attack as a crossdresser, and misgendered the victim as “he.” The article has since been changed to reflect that victim as being transgender and uses the victim’s preferred gender pronoun.

Matt Lee is a Web producer for Metro New York. He writes about almost everything and anything. Talk to him (or yell at him) on Twitter so he doesn’t feel lonely@mattlee2669.