Police have arrested a suspect in the murder case of 28-year-old Nina Pop, a transgender woman who was found stabbed to death in her apartment on May 3 in southeast Missouri.
Joseph B. Cannon, 40, was busted on May 15 and slapped with charges of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection to Pop’s death at her apartment in Sikeston, Missouri, according to local news outlet KFVS 12.
Sikeston’s police chief, James McMillen, announced on May 15 that “several people came forth, offering information,” which ultimately helped police track down a suspect.
A spokesperson for the Sikeston Police Department did not return phone calls seeking comment about the case by the afternoon of May 20. Cannon continues to be held in custody and is not permitted to seek bond.
Authorities announced early in the investigation that they were seeking to determine whether the murder was a hate-motivated crime, but no further details have emerged about that.
Frustratingly, Sikeston authorities initially deadnamed Pop and KFVS 12 also proceeded to mention her dead name, even after establishing the name with which she identified.
Pop is the second transgender person in as many years to be murdered in the state of Missouri. Last June, 32-year-old Brooklyn Lindsey was found dead in Kansas City and a man was subsequently charged in that case.
Pop was at least the 10th transgender person to be murdered in the United States this year. To this point, the Human Rights Campaign counted 11 transgender or gender non-conforming people who have suffered violent deaths so far in 2020 after counting 26 such homicides last year.
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