Vigil for transgender woman gunned down in Hunting Park
More than 50 friends and family members gathered for a candlelight vigil Friday night at the spot on the northern fringe of Hunting Park where a transgender woman, Kiesha Jenkins, was ambushed and fatally shot this week.
More than 50 friends and family members gathered for a candlelight vigil Friday night at the spot on the northern fringe of Hunting Park where a transgender woman, Kiesha Jenkins, was ambushed and fatally shot this week.
"It's not fair that we have to be here, hurting," said Candace Turner, 36, whose sister is transgender.
"It doesn't matter who you are, what you are, what you do - love each other," Turner pleaded to the gathering.
Police said Jenkins, 22, was attacked by five or six men after she got out of a car around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday at 13th and Wingohocking Streets.
She then was shot twice in the back as she lay on the ground.
Jenkins' father, Ronald Doster, 58, said he got the news from one of his daughters that Jenkins had been shot and was taken to Einstein Medical Center.
The daughter called again soon afterward to tell him: "He's dead, dad. He's dead."
Up until a few years ago, Jenkins was known as Stephen, a graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School.
"I miss my son," Yolanda Jenkins said. "I want justice for my son."
Carol Jenkins, the victim's grandmother, expressed hope that the police would catch the perpetrators.
"They had to be cowards to shoot him in the back," she said.
Nafis Henderson, 25, said Jenkins became his partner when Jenkins was still "Steph." They were together for five years until recently.
"If you stood and talked to her for five minutes, you'd walk away with a smile on your face," Henderson said.
Police said the motive may have been robbery, but Jenkins' father was convinced otherwise.
"They say it wasn't a hate crime. I believe it was," he said.
Balloons were tied to a tree near where Jenkins was gunned down. One by one, people lit candles, and some offered recollections and words of encouragement.
"No matter what she wanted to be," Turner said, "she was a person."
As with all homicides, the city is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the assailants. Anyone with information can call detectives at 215-686-3334 or the department's anonymous tip line at 215-686-TIPS.
215-854-5983 @RobertMoran215
