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The family of a 14-year-old transgender girl whose dismembered remains were found at a Pennsylvania reservoir has called for her gruesome murder to be treated as a hate crime.
Pauly Likens, a teenager from Mercer County, went missing on the evening of June 22nd after meeting up with a 29-year-old man whom she met through the dating app, Grindr.
In the following days, police, Pauly’s family and members of the community conducted a frantic search for her and put out informational flyers online in the hopes of finding her.
But the search ended tragically when local and state police discovered dismembered human remains in and around the lake where Pauly’s last known location was. On July 3rd, the Mercer County Coroner positively identified the remains as Pauly’s.
“Our entire community mourns this loss of young life along with Pauly’s family,” Pamela Ladner, the president of LGBTQIA+ Alliance Shenango Valley, said on behalf of Pauly’s family.
“She was taken violently, senselessly, and way too soon,” Ladner added.
Pennsylvania State Police have charged DeShawn Watkins, the 29-year-old man who Pauly connected with on the dating app, with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, abuse of corpse and tampering with physical evidence. He is being held in Mercer County Prison without bail.
He has not, however, been charged with a hate crime, something Ladner told CBS News that Pauly’s family hopes for.
"Mom definitely thinks it’s a hate crime. She would love to see it prosecuted as a hate crime," Ladner told the news outlet.
Mercer County District Attorney Peter Acker told CBS News that the position of the state is that it is, “not a hate crime because the alleged perpetrator was an admitted homosexual and the victim was transgender or transitioning.”
But hate crime charges could be brought in the future if evidence supports it.
In Pennsylvania, hate crime laws are called “ethnic intimidation” but do not specifically cover sexual orientation, sex, gender, or gender identity. But federal hate crime laws that cover gender, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity can be brought.
In response to Pauly’s death Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said “It’s past time to strengthen Pennsylvania’s laws to treat hate-based crimes against LGBTQ+ folks the same way other hate crimes are treated.”
Pauly’s tragic death is a grim reminder that transgender people are four times more likely to be victims of violent crime than cisgender people.
Last year, at least 32 transgender and gender-expansive people were killed in the United States, according to Human Rights Watch.
Pauly’s family described her as “loving, full of life, and selfless.” They said she loved being in nature, getting her nails done and shopping. She aspired to be a park ranger like her aunt.
“Everyone she met was touched by her sheer experience,” the family said in a statement.
Pauly would have been 15 years old on July 6.
