Man charged with attempted murder of a transgender woman after six months on the run
A New Jersey man was on the run for half a year after authorities say he shot at and beat a transgender woman outside a Northwest Philadelphia club last June.
A man who pistol-whipped and shot at a transgender woman in Northeast Philadelphia last summer and shot and injured two others has been arrested after eluding police for months, authorities said Thursday. .
Joel Martinez, 22, of Camden, was charged with attempted murder, three counts of aggravated assault, and related crimes for attacking the 23-year-old woman and shooting and injuring two other women, ages 22 and 18, outside a Kensington nightclub last June, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Martinez was taken into custody in Camden in late December and extradited to Philadelphia this week, Police Capt. James Kearney said.
He was being held on $3 million bail, said Mike Lee, chief of staff for District Attorney Larry Krasner.
Shortly after 4:30 a.m. June 12, police responded to a double shooting on the 300 block of East Westmoreland Street. Officers found a 22-year-old woman shot once in the left arm and an 18-year-old woman with a graze wound to the back of her head, police said.
Martinez also shot at the transgender woman but she was not struck, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office said.
Authorities did not identify the victims of the crimes as they announced Martinez’s arrest, but said the women were grateful that he had been apprehended. Kelly Burkhardt, the LGBTQ+ liaison for the District Attorney’s Office, read a statement from the woman who was pistol-whipped.
“I can peacefully now put my head down at night and sleep again,” she said. “I’ve had night terrors since this happened and lots of counseling. And now I feel the peace knowing I will no longer have to walk around looking over my shoulder, wondering if someone is going to cause harm to me. I am thankful, by the grace of God.”
Violent crime against the LGBTQ community has been on the rise in Philadelphia, Burkhardt said.
Crimes against the LGBTQ community, including assault and murder, are not recognized as hate crimes under Pennsylvania law. In 2014, Philadelphia passed legislation that recognizes attacks based on gender identity or sexual orientation as hate crimes.