Crime & Safety

Victim: Transgender Identity Sparked Assault

Assault victim was transexual, had been harrassed in neighborhood before.

Fredericksburg Police say they are looking into the possibility that a victim's transexual gender identity may have played a role in an assault over the weekend. Police say that a outside of a 7-11 on Fall Hill Avenue. Police say the 32-year-old victim was born male but is now living as a female. 

"It could be a factor, but we don't have a definitive reason," said Natatia Bledsoe, public information officer for the Fredericksburg Police Department. "The victim says that she has been harassed in the neighborhood because of her transexual status."

Bledsoe says that the victim, who lives near the scene of the assault, "feels strongly it was her transgender status that provoked the incident", and that she no longer feels safe in her own neighborhood. 

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The incident began as a woman and two men started arguing with the victim in the parking lot of the 7-11 on Saturday afternoon. Police say the three assailants surrounded the victim, taunting her before forcing her to the ground. Once on the ground, police say the victim was struck with hands, feet and a discarded metal broom stick. 

The victim denied medical treatment despite suffered numerous facial injuries as well as bruising on the hands and knees. 

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Police say that it is possible that there may be more than the initial three attackers involved in the assault. 

"There may be more people who joined in once she was on the ground," said Bledsoe. 

Police say that they did receive a number of 911 calls reporting a large fight as the incident happened. 

The victim was able to describe her assailants, providing license plate numbers for two suspect vehicles and identifying one of the male attackers by a street name. Police believe all of the assailants to be local residents. 

Police have arrested and charged 18-year-old Fredericksburg resident Laqueta Webb with malicious wounding by mob. Webb is behind bars at Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond. 

Police are meeting with another suspect and his attorney to discuss the incident later today. A third suspect remains at-large.

If the attack is determined to be motivated by the victim's sexual identity, it will likely not have an impact on the severity of the charges faced by the suspects. Virginia's hate crime legislation makes no special protections for sexual orientation or identity, only classifying as hate crimes those which are motivated by the victim's race, religious conviction, color or national origin.


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