17-Year-Old Faces Murder Charges for Shooting Trans Friend

metroweekly.com:

KLAS, Sandoval’s parents told police he had left home the night before and was picked up by a gray Honda, which they had seen pick him up before.Sandoval allegedly came home at 3 a.m. “hysterical and in a panic,” according to the police report.Sandoval told his parents that “it was an accident,” and when questioned whether he had been in a car accident, Sandoval admitted to shooting his friend.

He asked his parents not to call the police, but they told him they had to.Sandoval is currently being held in custody at the Clark County Juvenile Hall.

He is next scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on June 18.LGBTQ rights groups have called on authorities to investigate Johnson’s death further and to potentially consider pursuing hate crime charges, which could lead to additional penalties for Sandoval if he is convicted of the underlying crime.“Jazlynn’s murder is the latest in a pattern of senseless deaths among transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming youth across America who face rampant harassment and violence simply because of who they are,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of GLAAD, said in a statement. “While a 17-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with murder, we urge continual investigation to determine if this can be charged as a hate crime,” André Wade, the State Director of Silver State Equality, Nevada’s statewide LGBTQ rights organization, said of the murder. “Crimes against transgender and gender non-conforming people — especially transgender youth of color — continue to escalate nationwide.”.