Trans woman wounded in Kansas City shooting, says alleged suspect was motivated by hate
A Kansas City man is accused of shooting a transgender woman twice in an act she believed was motivated by hate.
Jackson County prosecutors have charged the alleged shooter, 30-year-old Gonzolo Sago Duvergel, with first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, armed criminal action, unlawful firearm possession and two counts of armed criminal action. He was not facing any hate crime charges Friday.
Duvergel was being held in the county jail without bond.
According to court documents, Kansas City police officers were dispatched on June 1 around 3 a.m. to two calls blocks away in the North Town Fork neighborhood that were believed to be related.
The first was a report of gunfire at 51st Street and Prospect Avenue. The second was at a nearby gas station for a shooting victim with wounds to the left arm and thigh.
Gas station employees told officers the shooting victim collapsed after entering the store. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Meanwhile, a blood trail led toward 51st and Prospect, where crime scene investigators discovered one live round of ammunition and three shell casings.
Once the shooting victim was well enough to speak with detectives, she was interviewed at the hospital June 2. There she recalled being robbed and shot by a person she recognized who drove a large SUV.
She said the shooter grabbed her purse and fired multiple times when she resisted, according to court documents. Afterward she “ran for her life” because she believed the man was trying to kill her.
Police went to a motel the alleged shooter was known to stay at and were given a photocopy of a driver’s license belonging to Duvergel, according to court documents.
Detectives reviewed surveillance from a city camera at 51st and Prospect that showed a large SUV circling around the victim before and after the shooting. It also showed her running toward the gas station where she was located.
On Wednesday, the gunshot victim identified Duvergel as her shooter from a photo lineup. She told detectives she only knew Duvergel by occasionally passing him on the street. But every time he “would scowl at her and express disgust that she existed.”
“The victim reiterated her belief the suspects [sic] actions were motivated by her being openly transgender,” a Kansas City detective said in an affidavit seeking charges for Duvergel.
On Thursday, Duvergel was arrested at the Kansas City motel where he was believed to be residing. A handgun was taken as evidence following a search of his room, according to court documents.
Online court records did not list an attorney for Duvergel.
Duvergel made his initial court appearance Friday. A bond review hearing in his case was scheduled for June 20.
