A transgender woman was named by a witness as the person killed in what police said was a fatal stabbing Monday (Feb. 27) in the 7th Ward. The woman was dragged out of a vehicle by the driver after she had apparently been stabbed more than once, according to the witness and police.
The New Orleans Police Department said it could not confirm the gender identity of the victim. The department initially reported the victim was a woman, but later said the victim was a man, only to then indicate it was still investigating the victim's identity.
The witness at the scene, however, provided the identity of the victim -- whom he said he had known for several years. The victim's identified herself as a transgender woman in her social media account.
She was the second transgender woman killed in New Orleans since Saturday night. Chyna Gibson, 31, was shot to death Feb. 25 outside a shopping center in the 4300 block of Downman Road. NOPD spokesman Beau Tidwell said the department is probing both killings.
"At this point, we have no reason to believe they were connected. There is no further information available at this time," Tidwell said.
Officers responded to the stabbing scene Monday near the intersection of North Claiborne Avenue and Columbus Street just before 9 a.m. They found the woman suffering from several knife wounds. She was taken to a local hospital where she later died died from her injuries, according to a preliminary police report.
Witnesses told police they saw a man get out of a black car, possibly a Camaro, in the 1700 block of Columbus Street. The driver got something out of the trunk, walked to the passenger side of the vehicle, stabbed the victim, then removed her from the car, police said. The suspect got back into the vehicle and drove away.
The witness who identified the victim and said he's known her for several years, told The Times-Picayune he saw the Camaro pull up to a stop at the corner. He saw the driver arguing with the victim, who was in the passenger seat. At some point the driver reached across her and opened the passenger side door, after which the driver got out of the vehicle, the witness said.
"Dude came around to the passenger side and I see a knife in his hand. I'm thinking he's about to stab (the victim) but, apparently, he already stabbed (the victim) in the car," said the witness who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for his safety. "Then he pulled (the victim) out by (the victim's) head and slammed (the victim's) face to the ground. Then he pulled off."
The woman never moved and once police rolled her over, the witness saw that it was his acquaintance. It looked like she had been stabbed in the shoulder, chest and side near the lungs, the witness said.
Police officers at the scene placed three evidence markers near a storm drain and collected a black flip-flop and what appeared to be a bloody towel.
Clarification: An earlier version of this story, based on an NOPD report, stated the victim was a woman. The NOPD later changed that report to say the victim was a man. The victim, identified by a witness, was a transgender woman.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Chyna Gibson as 33 years old and incorrectly identified the address where police say she was shot. She was 31 at the time of her death, and the shooting took place in the 4300 block of Downman Road.