Man charged in slaying of transgender woman

Two days after Philadelphia police asked for the public's help in solving the brutal murder of a transgender woman in Logan, someone called the department's homicide unit with a tip.

The caller gave police a name - Pedro Redding - and said he was known for committing robberies in the neighborhood.

And he lived on the same block where, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, 22-year-old Kiesha Jenkins had been beaten, robbed, and shot to death.

Police stopped Redding on Sunday morning and took him into custody, homicide Capt. James Clark said at a news conference Monday.

Redding, 24, gave a statement to police implicating three other men in the crime. They were still on the loose Monday night.

Clark said Redding did not shoot Jenkins, but "had the idea to rob her when he saw her."

Nevertheless, Redding was charged with murder, conspiracy, and related offenses. He was arraigned Monday and was denied bail.

Jenkins, who lived in Grays Ferry with her family, had just gotten out of a car at 13th and Wingohocking Streets when Redding and three other men set upon her, police said. They surrounded her, punching and kicking her.

Jenkins, Clark said, fought back. That's when one of the men pulled out a gun and fired two shots into her back.

"She gave a valiant fight, and that is why one of them pulled out a gun," Clark said.

When reached Monday, her family was unable to comment.

Redding has a long rap sheet that includes arrests for drug offenses, aggravated assault, and robbery and firearm offenses. In 2012, he and an accomplice were involved in the attempted robbery of another "transgender individual" that Clark said was "very similar" to the attack on Jenkins.

That victim survived, but charges were dropped after the victim failed to show up in court to testify.

Redding and his accomplices live in the area, Clark said, and would have known that transgender prostitutes such as Jenkins frequented Hunting Park, which is across the street from where she was killed. Hunting Park is known as a gathering place for transgender prostitutes.

But Clark said police do not believe Jenkins was targeted because she was transgender.

"They thought she had money, and they wanted to take it," he said.

The case has shaken Philadelphia's transgender community, who have said the brutality of Jenkins' death illustrates the violence and discrimination that many transgender people face.

At a march for transgender rights Saturday, attendees chanted "Transphobia's got to go!" and mourned Jenkins and other transgender people murdered in this country. Jenkins, advocates say, was the 21st victim this year.

Nellie Fitzpatrick, Mayor Nutter's liaison to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Philadelphians, said those following the case should not use Jenkins' gender identity or her sex work to "lessen her life."

"Nobody's life is less because of who they are, how they died, or where they were," she said. "The community is grieving, but they are strong."

She encouraged transgender people who are the victims of crimes to report such incidents to police, whom she praised for their work on Jenkins' murder.

"I hope individuals in the community know that the police department is here," she said. "They have stepped up, and it's really something we are grateful for."

awhelan@philly.com

215-854-2961 @aubreyjwhelan