A’nee Roberson (Johnson) died Oct. 14. (Photo via Facebook)
D.C. police are seeking help from the public in identifying one or more suspects they say assaulted a transgender woman shortly after 4 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14, that prompted the woman to enter the path of a vehicle in the 900 block of U Street, N.W., that fatally struck her.
Police identified the victim as 30-year-old A’nee Roberson of Northwest D.C. A police statement did not identify Roberson as being transgender, but D.C. transgender rights advocate Earline Budd said officials with the department’s LGBT Liaison Unit informed her and others that Roberson was trans. It was also reported that Roberson sometimes used the last name Johnson.
The police statement, released on Oct. 18, says the driver of the vehicle that struck Roberson stayed on the scene, and an initial investigation “determined the victim ended up in the roadway due to the assault.”
The statement adds, “The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and ruled the cause of death to be multiple blunt force injuries and the manner of death a homicide.”
A police Public Incident Report says the death was classified as an act of second-degree murder and that the incident took place outside Nellie’s Sports Bar at 900 U St., N.W.
Police have not said why the assault may have taken place at that location since Nellie’s, an LGBTQ bar, like all bars in that area, closes at 3 a.m. on weekends and 2 a.m. on weekdays.
“On Saturday, October 14, 2023, at approximately 4:40 a.m., Third District officers were flagged down in front of the 900 block of U Street for a person down in the roadway,” the D.C. police statement says. “Officers were advised the victim was assaulted and then struck by a vehicle,” the statement continues. “The victim was transported to a local hospital where she later died.”
“Detectives are working to identify the suspects who assaulted Roberson resulting in her death,” the statement says.
The statement neither identifies the driver of the vehicle nor states whether the driver has been charged with a vehicle related offense.
It says the Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for each homicide committed in D.C. The statement says anyone with information about this case is asked to call police at 202-272-9099.
An anonymous tip can also be sent to police to the department’s TEXT TIP Line by sending a text message to 50411, the statement says.
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