Suspect indicted in transgender woman’s Bronx slaying
An ex-con has been indicted on murder charges in the Dec. 26 fatal shooting of a homeless transgender woman in the Bronx.
Marquis Tanner, 30, gunned down 24-year-old Alexandria Winchester on a basketball court behind the Twin Parks West development on E. 183rd St. near Webster Ave. in Fordham Heights, police and prosecutors allege.
Tanner shot Winchester in the neck, cops said. The killing was caught on video, and Tanner admitted he killed her because of a dispute over money, prosecutors said.
Winchester was a client of the Ali Forney Center, a non-profit dedicated to helping homeless LGBTQ youth.
“For us, her murder just punctuates how disposable some people feel trans lives are. There’s just no regard for a trans life,” said Alexander Roque, the center’s executive director. “It’s really a painful reminder of how close the young people we provide services are to death, the end of their lives, and how much work we have to do to protect them.”
The center posted a statement about her death on Dec. 30, and hosted a vigil for her last month.
“The details about her murder are still emerging, and it is believed she knew her murderer. We do not know whether she was targeted because of her identity,” the statement reads. “We are shattered, but our dedication is not broken.
She’s believed to be the 44th transgender or gender non-conforming person killed in the U.S. in 2020, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Cops busted Tanner on Dec. 29. and a grand jury indicted him last month on murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon charges. He remains held without bail.
“The defendant allegedly fatally shot the victim over a money dispute,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said. “We are working hard to bring justice to victims and this indictment shows wrongdoers will be held accountable at the end of the day. Our focus is on ending gun violence in the Bronx.”
Tanner served a four-year prison sentence for a 2011 robbery conviction, and was sentenced to one-and-a-third to three years for attempted robbery in 2017. He was released to parole in March 2018.
