Police arrested a 29-year-old man Tuesday, who they say admitted to the Friday night shooting of a transgender woman in Northwest Dallas.
Police investigated the aggravated assault as a hate crime.
Domingo Ramirez-Cavente was arrested Tuesday for the shooting at about 11:05 p.m. Friday in the 11000 block of Dennis Road, Dallas police said.
Ramirez-Cavente waived his Miranda Rights and admitted to the shooting, police said.
Police said they spoke to the woman who was shot Sunday and verified the facts of the incident.
"We're hunted," said Leslie McMurray, transgender education and advocacy coordinator for the Resource Center in Dallas. "We're in danger just walking down the street."
Ramirez-Cavente pulled up alongside the woman, yelled slurs targeting her identity and shot her multiple times in the chest and arm, police said.
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"My question is, what do they mean by 'hate crime,'" McMurray asked. "Because transgender people are not covered under Texas hate crime law."
Texas includes race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion and disability in its hate crime law. Nineteen states, two territories, Washington D.C. and the federal government all cover transgender people in their hate crime laws.
"Someone who's transgender, their lives are viewed by some as disposable," McMurray said. "That's horrific, and it's wrong, and it needs to stop."
Dallas dealt with the high-profile murders of several transgender women earlier in 2019, including Chynal Lindsey and Muhlaysia Booker. They are 2 of 19 transgender women murdered across the country so far this year.
Anyone with information about the shooting should contact Det. M. Yeric at 214-283-4803.
