A man wanted by police for allegedly murdering a Black transgender woman in Philadelphia in June was arrested in Los Angeles on November 9.
Akhenaton “Akh” Jones was taken into custody by police five months after the June 7 stabbing death of Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, 27, who was found in the Schuylkill River on June 8. Fells’ legs were subsequently found in a trash bag in the river.
Police are planning to extradite Jones to Pennsylvania, according to Gay City News’ sister publication Metro Philadelphia, which noted that Jones is expected to face charges for murder, evidence tampering, abusing a corpse, and other crimes.
Akhenaton “Akh” Jones faces extradition to Pennsylvania for Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells’ slaying
Los Angeles police did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the case and a police spokesperson in Philadelphia told Gay City News on November 12 that the department has “no releasable information at this time.”
Fells is among 34 known transgender or gender non-conforming individuals who have suffered a violent death this year in the United States, and she is not the only Black transgender woman to be killed in Philadelphia in 2020.
Mia Green, 29, was killed on September 28. Police found her in the passenger seat of a Jeep Wrangler after the vehicle was pulled over for driving through a stop sign on 41st Street and Westminster Avenue in Philadelphia. Police escorted the Wrangler to Penn-Presbyterian Hospital, where Green was pronounced dead.
Abdullah Ibn Elamin Jaamia, who was driving the vehicle, was charged with murder, obstruction, lying to authorities, possession of an instrument of crime with intent, tampering with evidence, and reckless endangerment.
Earlier that same month — on September 13 — Roxanne Moore, a Black transgender woman, was shot more than a dozen times by police officers in Reading, Pennsylvania, after a call to police took a turn for the worse. According to local prosecutors, Moore had stolen a handgun from an individual and waved it in the air before pistol-whipping a man and pointing the gun at another individual.
Moore’s family stressed that the woman needed mental health assistance rather than getting shot 16 times by police officers. The spray of bullets put her in critical condition, but she survived and faces numerous criminal charges, including assault and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
To sign up for the Gay City News email newsletter, visit gaycitynews.com/newsletter.
