CRIME
Defense Questions Key Evidence in Brazell Murder
Kwauhuru Govan’s lawyer says bag found at scene belonged to victim, not defendant
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
The defense in the
Rashawn Brazell case is
saying that a key piece
of evidence that linked
the 19-year-old gay man to his
alleged killer belonged to Brazell
and not to Kwauhuru Govan, the
41-year-old man who is accused
of killing Brazell in 2005 and dismembering
his body.
“There was a witness that saw a
bag with a very similar description
to the one he was found in,” said
Jonathan Strauss, who is defending
Govan with Joshua Horowitz,
following an August 13 hearing
in the case in Brooklyn Supreme
Court.
The bag is signifi cant because
Govan’s ex-wife is expected to
testify that she owned the bag at
some point prior to Brazell’s death
and she gave it to her husband.
Brazell’s body parts were found in
Rashawn Brazell was 19 at the time of his 2005 murder.
a Brooklyn subway station and in
a Brooklyn recycling station. The
COURTESY: BRAZELL FAMILY
bag had Brazell’s blood on it and
was recovered in the subway station
where his body parts were
found.
While there could be a plausible
explanation for how Govan came
to possess a bag that belonged to
Brazell, such as Govan using Brazell’s
bag to carry the body parts
to the subway, testimony that contradicts
the ex-wife could muddy
evidence in what is an already diffi
cult case. If the bag is Brazell’s,
it could mean that someone other
than Govan used it to carry his remains
to the subway. Govan faces
one count of second-degree murder
in the case.
The defense sought the identity
of that witness during the August
13 hearing. The defense also
asked for the identity of a witness
who saw Brazell being stabbed on
a subway platform at some time
near the time when he was report-
➤ RASHAWN BRAZELL,, continued on p.19
Man Arrested in One of Two S. Carolina Trans Murders
Suspect turns self in Denali Berries Stuckey’s killing; second slaying reported
BY MATT TRACY
A man has been arrested
in connection to one of
two separate killings of
black trans women in
South Carolina this summer.
Dominick Archield, 34, turned
himself in to police on August
11 for his role in allegedly killing
29-year-old Denali Berries Stuckey,
according to The Post and Courier,
a local news outlet in Charleston.
Archield has not yet been charged,
according to news reports.
Stuckey was found dead with
gunshot wounds on the side of
a road at 2821 Carner Avenue in
North Charleston on July 20. Multiple
attempts to reach the North
Charleston Police Department on
August 13 for further details were
unsuccessful.
Roughly two weeks after Stuckey’s
Dominic Archield, 34, turned himself in for allegedly killing 29-year-old Denali Berries Stuckey, according
to news reports.
death, another black trans
woman, Pebbles LaDime Doe, was
found dead on August 4 in a car
parked in a driveway on Concord
Church Road in the town of Allendale,
which has a population of
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less than 3,500 people.
The town is located just minutes
from the Georgia border and
is roughly two hours by car from
the site of Stuckey’s death in North
Charleston.
Neither the local sheriff nor the
state police could be reached for
further details in that case. Doe’s
mother could not be reached by
phone and she did not return messages
seeking comment.
Doe’s case and others have
drawn national attention in light of
the growing death toll of transgender
women of color across the nation.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth
Warren, a 2020 presidential
candidate, tweeted on August 8
that her “heart aches for Pebbles
LaDime Doe, Kiki Fantroy, and
their loved ones. The murder of
black trans women is a crisis that
we must call out — and address
head-on.”
Fantroy, a 21-year-old black
transgender woman, was shot and
killed in Miami on July 31 and police
there have no announced any
leads in her death.
August 15 - August 28, 2 18 019 | GayCityNews.com
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