DeAllen Price sentenced in murder of transgender woman in Pr. Georges
A 29-year-old man has been sentenced to 48 years in prison for the murder of a transgender woman he was in a relationship with in 2021 in Prince George’s County.
DeAllen Price fatally shot Taya Ashton in her apartment in Suitland, Md., on July 17, 2021, after he learned that Ashton was not born female, prosecutors said.
Price, of Capitol Heights, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence in October. Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy described Ashton, 20, as a “daughter and a beloved friend to many.”
“Taya’s death was a real tragedy for our community, as well as for her family. Her death represents so much more, in terms of our level of tolerance in our community for people who want to express themselves and live their lives on their own terms,” Braveboy said when announcing the sentence against Price on Wednesday. “Anyone who chooses to do that should be respected and [know] that their lives are as valuable as anyone else’s life.”
In a virtual news conference Wednesday, community leaders and advocates brought attention to the importance of preventing violence against transgender people and holding offenders accountable.
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According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 32 transgender and gender-nonconforming people were fatally shot or killed by other violent means in 2023. Eighty-four percent of those victims were people of color and 50 percent were Black transgender women.
Nationally, The Washington Post found that nearly half of transgender women killed between 2015 and 2020 died at the hands of an intimate partner.
Renee Lau, a representative from Baltimore Safe Haven, a nonprofit wellness center serving Black transgender women and LGBTQ community members, said that while violence “touches the entire community,” it disproportionately affects transgender people.
“The murder rate, the suicide rate and the deaths because of overdoses in our community reaches greater numbers because of the fact that we are such a small community,” Lau said.
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Krystal Oriadha (D-District 7), the first openly LGBTQ member elected to the Prince George’s County Council, said the LGBTQ community is “often forgotten,” with many crimes against them going unreported.
In June, her efforts led to the Pride flag being raised at the Wayne K. Curry Administration Building in Prince George’s County for the first time.
“There’s something we can do when we all come together and say that we won’t let this stand,” Oriadha said, “and that we see you.”
In 2019, two transgender women were fatally shot in Prince George’s County, drawing attention to a lack of LGBTQ resources compared with neighboring jurisdictions like D.C. That same year, Braveboy created an LGBTQIA task force with the help of Oriadha, prosecutors and others in the community.
Braveboy said the task force features ambassadors from the state’s attorney’s office who partner with the community to reach members of the LGBTQ community to identify cases and individuals in need of support. Her office also works with the county police department’s LGBTQ outreach team.
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Oriadha said she pushed legislation for an LGBTQ work group for nonprofits and county agencies to identify gaps in resources like housing and employment.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) announced last year the hiring of the county’s first government liaison to the LGBTQ community.
According to online court records, Price is represented by the public defender’s office. A spokesperson for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Prince George’s County Assistant State’s Attorney Sherrie Waldrup said Price and his defense attorney suggested at sentencing that his crime was unintentional, which Waldrup said she did not find credible.
Several of Ashton’s family members attended the virtual news conference and opted not to speak. Family and friends remembered Ashton at her candlelight vigil in Prince George’s two years ago, highlighting her hopes of starting a clothing boutique.
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