Pauly Likens only crime was being herself.
"She loved with everything she had,” said Jen McClure, mother of the slain Mercer County teen. "She was the best; she really was.”
Ms. McClure, wearing a sweatshirt featuring her daughter’s face and the words “Say Her Name,” joined LGBTQ+ community members at the City-County Building in Downtown on Wednesday to commemorate Transgender Day of Remembrance.
The event is an annual observance honoring the memory of transgender people killed in acts of anti-transgender violence, and to call for LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes legislation.
Police found 14-year-old Likens’ remains scattered across Shenango Lake at the end of June. DaShawn Watkins, 29, of Sharon, was arrested in connection with her death and faces charges including abuse of a corpse, aggravated assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. He is being held at Mercer County Prison and is scheduled for trial next year.
Since Mr. Watkins' arrest, Ms. McClure and others have pleaded with officials to consider federal hate crime charges in addition to the murder charge.
Pennsylvania is one of 13 states where the criminal statute against ethnic intimidation does not cover sexual orientation or gender identity.
"Even as public attitudes and legal protections have increasingly embraced LGBTQ+ people in recent years, much work remains to be done," according to a statement on the state attorney general's website.
However, federal hate crimes include those motivated by the victim's sexual orientation or gender identity.
Despite that, Jason Landau Goodman, board chair of the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Pennsylvania Youth Congress, said no one from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania has responded to requests for an investigation into federal hate crimes charges being added to the Likens case.
Mike Rick, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said the agency cannot confirm, deny or otherwise comment on pending investigations.
“Our office also does not independently conduct investigations, but works with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners that investigate matters,” he wrote in a statement to the Post-Gazette.
"There have been at least 27 murders of transgender-affected people here in the United States, just in the past year," Mr. Landau Goodman said. "When children were dying from coal mining disasters or in factories, we created laws to protect them, but when our trans children are dying, we're lucky even to get your attention."
Speakers also demanded action from the Allegheny County police, who they alleged were stalling an investigation into the death of transgender teen Amariey Lei, 19, who was shot and killed in Wilkinsburg on Jan. 1, 2022. No arrests have been made.
"It's been more than 1,000 days since [Lei] was taken and her family is still waiting for justice," said Dena Stanley, executive director of advocacy group TransYOUniting, who called police efforts "unacceptable."
"Despite the parents' efforts, they've been told by homicide detectives to do their own work on the investigation," Ms. Stanley said.
County police spokesman James Madalinsky wrote in a statement, “Detectives are confident they have identified everyone involved in this case and previously turned over preliminary results to the district attorney’s office for a determination on charges. At this time, this remains an active, ongoing investigation and we continue to urge anyone with information to contact our tip line at 1-833-ALL-TIPS.”
According to data from the Pennsylvania Youth Congress, Likens was the 20th and the youngest transgender or gender-expansive person killed in the state in the past decade. In 2023, 35 transgender and gender-expansive people were killed across the country, according to data from Everytown, a nonprofit advocacy group.
A Transgender Remembrance Vigil will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday on the North Side.
First Published: November 21, 2024, 12:03 a.m.
Updated: November 21, 2024, 8:42 p.m.
