A 38-year-old man was arrested in North Carolina this week and charged with the “hate-based” murder of a transgender woman in Northeast D.C. in July, officials said.
With help from tips and FBI technology, Edgar Arrington was arrested and charged with first-degree murder while armed. He’s accused of shooting and killing 28-year-old Daquane “Dream” Johnson near the Benning Market Store over the summer.
“You don’t know what you did to this family,” Vanna Terrell, Johnson’s aunt, told WTOP. “You don’t know what you did to my sister. You don’t know what you did to her siblings. You don’t know how this affected our whole family.”
Charging documents describe the sequence of events that led to the shooting before 1 a.m. on July 5. A witness who had parked nearby to go to the store told police they watched Johnson approach a group and greet Arrington. The witness then told investigators that Johnson responded, “I’m a female, don’t play with me. I’ll put you down.”
Arrington, according to the witness, then said, “Well if you saying you not, I’ma shoot you.”
Court records said the witness was confused about why there was an argument about gender, and the witness heard somebody other than Arrington say, “No disrespect but you are a male.”
The witness told investigators Johnson “wasn’t having it and appeared ready to fight.” Shortly after, the witness said it got quiet and they looked back and watched Arrington pull out a gun and shoot Johnson.
The witness called police four days after the shooting.
Johnson had four gunshot wounds, three to the chest and one to the right shoulder, officials said. She was taken to the hospital after the shooting and was pronounced dead.
Two different witnesses who were walking nearby thought Johnson might have overdosed or been under the influence. They both noticed blood and dialed 911. They also located an officer nearby.
Using tips, surveillance video and help from the FBI, Arrington was arrested and charged with the “hate-based murder,” documents said.
Meanwhile, Terrell said Johnson’s mom has had difficulty working and focusing since the shooting.
“Her kids are so traumatized,” Terrell said. “They have to go to school, and some of their friends are still talking about it.”
Johnson was going to start the process of legally changing her name, Terrell said.
“Dream was full of life,” Terrell said. “Dream was vibrant. Dream just loved to live. If you’ve seen Dream, Dream always had a smile on her face.”
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