CRIME
Woman Targeted in Homophobic Subway Attack
Incident occured on mezzanine at 14th Street and Sixth Ave. in Manhattan
BY MATT TRACY
A woman was waiting at
the 14th Street/Sixth
Avenue station in Manhattan
on February
13 when a man walked up to her,
spewed anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, and
smacked her from behind, according
to police.
It was shortly after 10 a.m.
on a Saturday morning when
the unidentifi ed attacker allegedly
approached the 20-year-old
woman, who was on the mezzanine
of the subway station, and
hit her while voicing homophobic
language. He then fl ed the station,
though it is unclear where
he went.
Security camera footage released
by police shows the person they are
seeking to identify in connection to
the case. The man was last seen
donning a red hat, a dark jacket,
The man pictured allegedly smacked a woman and voiced anti-LGBTQ rhetoric before fl eeing a Manhattan
subway station.
baggy jeans, and black shoes. He
was holding what appeared to be
newspapers.
The station includes train service
NYPD
along the 1, 2, 3, F, L, and M
lines, as well as transfers to the
Path train.
The incident is only the latest
alleged anti-LGBTQ attack in the
city. A gay couple was threatened
by a bigot in Staten Island late last
month, a 45-year-old man was
punched and called anti-gay slurs
at Union Square Park last month,
and in December a man was accused
of using homophobic slurs
when he punched a teenager and
fl ed an MTA bus.
In another case stemming
from December, three people in
the Bronx allegedly tossed food
cans at a 19-year-old and targeted
the individual with anti-gay
rhetoric.
Beyond New York City, Black
transgender women continue to
be targeted by deadly violence
across the nation. At least seven
known transgender or gender
non-conforming individuals have
been killed throughout the United
States during the fi rst two months
of this year.
Transgender Woman Murdered in Pennsylvania
Attacker shot and killed by police in the middle of attack; probe underway
BY MATT TRACY
A transgender woman in
Pennsylvania was murdered
on February 18
by a man who was, in
turn, killed by police offi cers who
arrived on the scene and witnessed
the attack, according to multiple
news outlets.
Chyna Carrillo, or Chyna Cardana,
was just 24 years old when
she was allegedly killed by 33-yearold
Juan Carter Hernandez shortly
after 11 a.m. on February 18 in
Wilmington, Pennsylvania. Police
offi cers then shot and killed Hernandez
after he allegedly ignored
orders to stop attacking Carrillo,
who subsequently died at a hospital
in Youngstown.
Carrillo’s family told WXPI, a
local NBC affi liate in Pittsburgh,
that Hernandez was dating Carrillo.
When asked by Gay City News
whether the case is being investigated
Chyna Carrillo was 24 years old when she was killed.
as a hate crime, a police
spokesperson in Wilmington deferred
comment on February 21 to
Pennsylvania State Police because
local authorities were involved in
FACEBOOK/CHYNA CARRILLO
the shooting. Pennsylvania State
Police confi rmed an investigation
is underway.
Carrillo was a nursing professional
who originally lived in Arkansas,
but moved to Pennsylvania.
Carrillo’s aunt, Mayra Carrillo,
remembered her late niece as she
shared a photo on Facebook and
reminisced about the wonderful
times they spent together.
“My Chyna was always down to
take pics with me,” Mayra noted in
her Facebook post. “I miss her so
much. She knew I loved her with
all my heart and I know she loved
me. Rest in power my beautiful
mermaid!! Her name was Chyna
Carrillo. SAY HER NAME!!”
Carrillo is at least the seventh
transgender individual to suffer a
violent death so far in 2021. Others
who have been killed this year
include Tyianna Alexander of Chicago,
Samuel Edmund Damián
Valentín of Puerto Rico, Bianca
“Muffi n” Bankz of Atlanta, Dominique
Jackson of Mississippi, Fifty
Bandz of Louisiana, and Alexus
Braxton of Miami.
February 25 - March 10, 2 14 021 | GayCityNews.com
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