Teen gets 25 years for attempted murder of trans woman

Teen gets 25 years for attempted murder of trans woman

Tampa – A 17-year-old Tampa resident will spend the next 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of a transgender woman earlier this year. Taveres Spencer was convicted of attempted first-degree murder in late October. On Dec. 6, a judge handed down a 25-year sentence.

The trial in October featured the testimony of Spencer’s victim, Terrence “Coko” McDonald, who detailed the shooting.
“As I was still lying on the ground, he walked around me, and he pointed the gun, and then he shot me,” McDonald testified.

According to investigators who testified at the trial, McDonald and Spencer met at a party and exchanged phone numbers. They exchanged several flirtatious text messages before McDonald shared that she was transgender.

Police say the pair met near a home on Willie Street in Tampa early in the year, where state prosecutors said a struggle ensued and Spencer knocked down McDonald and fired one shot at her.

“I lost my breath, and then something came over me, and I got up, and I started running the best I could,” McDonald testified in October.

According to the defense, Spencer wasn’t sure Coko was serious about being transgender.

“He was planning to have sex with Coko,” public defender Paul Figueroa said.

In addition to attempted murder, Spencer  was convicted of robbery with a firearm, attempted 2nd-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery.

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