Orlando – A 12-year-old boy is charged with attempted murder after he allegedly shot at a transgender woman near the Citrus Bowl.
The victim, Cheyenne West, is not hurt.
“I’m fine. I was walking along Church St. headed toward OBT and when I was close to OBT the young man came around the corner and said ‘I’m gonna kill you’ and started shooting and that’s when I started running,” West says. “He was chasing me and shooting at me.”
Police say the boy yelled anti-gay and racist slurs as he allegedly chased West down the street near Church Street and Rio Grande Avenue just after midnight August 1.
Police found the boy and charged him with attempted murder and grand theft of a firearm. Police determined the gun had been reported stolen.
“[The 12-year-old] fired multiple rounds at West while stating he was going to kill him,” reads the police report. “Based on these facts and that [redacted] was in possession of a firearm that was functional and capable of firing a projectile, [redacted] is being charged with attempted murder.
West, 25, reports that the boy is a stranger to her.
“I never saw him a day in my life,” West says. “It’s just sad. I didn’t know he was 12 until the police told me.”
The boy lives with his grandmother, Josephine Felder, who told WESH she had no idea he even had left that house that night. She said her grandson is on medication and she’s been trying to get him help for a while now.
WESH reported that the boy appeared in court Aug. 1, and West says she also heard that, but no one has gotten in touch with her yet about a trial.
“There was witnesses as well and I have people who might come into court to testify,” West says.
It’s not the first time West has faced danger based on her gender expression. Last year, she was arrested for throwing a brick through a car window after the girls inside yelled slurs and threw juice on her. West says she was not charged for the incident because the girls didn’t appear in court.
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