Editor’s note: This article was first published by Philadelphia Gay News.
Written by Tim Kwik | Prosecutors are vowing to bring justice to Paulie Likens, a 14-year-old transgender girl from Sharon, Pennsylvania, who was brutally murdered last month. Her body was scattered in and around a park lake in western Pennsylvania.
“The bottom line is that a 14-year-old boy was brutally murdered and dismembered,” Mercer County District Attorney Peter C. Acker said in an email. “There is justice for Paulie Likens, there is justice for her family, and we aim to get that justice.”
On June 23, Dashawn Watkins allegedly met and killed Likens near Budd Street Public Park and Canoe Launch in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Watkins then dismembered Likens’ body with a saw and scattered her remains in and around Chenango River Lake in Clark Borough.
On July 2, Watkins was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. He is being held in the Mercer County Jail without bail.
The coroner’s office ruled the cause of death to be sharp trauma to the head and the manner of death to be homicide.
Cell phone records, social media and surveillance video link Watkins to the crime. In addition, traces of Likens’ blood were found in and around Watkins’ apartment in Sharon, Pennsylvania, authorities said.
A candlelight vigil will be held in Likens’ memory on Saturday, July 13th. Sponsored by LGBTQIA+ Alliance Shenango Valley. The wake will begin at 7 p.m. at 87 Stambaugh Avenue in Sharon, Pennsylvania.
Alliance President Pamela Ladner mourned Likens’ death.
“Polly’s aunt described him as a kind person, both inside and out,” Ladner said in an email. “She was a selfless child who loved nature and wanted to be a park ranger like her aunt.”
Prosecutor Acker said Likens’ death was one of the worst crimes he had witnessed in his 46 years as a lawyer. But he cautioned against calling it a hate crime. “PSP” [Pennsylvania State Police] I can’t believe it’s actually one [hate crime] “This is because the defendant has admitted to being gay, and the victim was reportedly a transgender girl,” Acker argued.
Mr. Acker praised the criminal justice agencies that worked on the case, including the Pennsylvania State Police, Hermitage Police Department, Sharon Police Department, Chenango Reservoir Park Rangers, Mercer County Coroner John Libonati, and the Cadaver Dog Search Unit.
“The amount of time spent identifying the victims and filing charges against the defendants is significant,” Acker added. “We take the killing of any individual very seriously, especially if they are young and if they are brutally killed and dismembered.”
Mr. Acker also pointed out that all criminal defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
This is a developing story.
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
