Dominique Rem'mie Fells Case: Police Identify Suspect in 27-Year-Old Transgender Black Woman's Killing

Philadelphia police have identified a suspect in the killing of a transgender woman whose body was found dismembered in Schuylkill River river earlier in June. Akhenaton Jones, 36, is wanted by police in connection with the killing of 27-year-old Dominique Rem'mie Fells.

Authorities searched Jones’ home and discovered blood and a cutting instrument, according to reports. 

He is wanted on numerous charges including murder, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. Police warned that Jones is armed and dangerous, said people should not approach him, and if spotted, call police immediately.

"Turn him in! This was a gruesome death," Fells' aunt, Germyce Williams, told CBS Philadelphia. "How anybody could do this to another human being is just so heartless and cruel. No mother should have to go through this, and I'm speaking for my sister-in-law.”

Fells body was found on June 8. She had suffered several stab wounds and her legs had been cut off. Fells became one of the subjects of protests against the killing of transgender women across the country after her death.

She is one of at least 15 transgender people who have been murdered in 2020 thus far, according to the Human Rights Campaign. In 2019, the number was 26 and most of them were Black trans women.

“We were always concerned about her. Whenever we saw her we'd say, 'Listen, be careful, make sure that you're safe, because we knew that there's a lot of hate out there for transgender,'" Williams also told the station. ”We accepted her as who she identified as and we just wanted the best for her.”

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