CRIME
Cops Bust Suspect in Tiffany Harris’ Fatal Stabbing
Bronx transgender woman was just 32 years old when she was murdered
BY PAUL SCHINDLER
The NYPD arrested a
suspect on August 12
in connection with the
death of Tiffany Harris,
a Black transgender woman who
was murdered in the Bronx last
month.
Alpha Diallo, a 21-year-old man
who resides at 1849 Sedgwick Avenue
in the Bronx, was arrested
for fatally stabbing the 32-year-old
Harris in the third-fl oor hallway of
2575 Jerome Avenue after 1:30 a.m.
on July 26, the NYPD announced.
Harris was rushed to Saint Barnabas
hospital, where she was pronounced
dead after 2 a.m.
Diallo faces murder and manslaughter
charges, as well as a
third charge for criminal possession
of a weapon.
Bronx transgender woman was
just 32 years old when she was
The NYPD did not respond when asked if this man, who they sought for questioning in the death of
Tiffany Harris, is Alpha Diallo, the 21-year-old arrested for the crime on August 12.
murdered
It is not clear why the two were
at an apartment building at 2575
Jerome Avenue in Fordham Manor.
Harris resided at 55 East 176th
Street in Morris Heights, about
NYPD
a mile from Diallo’s residence at
1849 Sedgwick Avenue, also in
Morris Heights.
The pair were suspected of having
met up for a sex work encounter,
police sources told the Daily
News, but cops said it is not clear
why Harris was stabbed and the
investigation into the case is ongoing.
The arrest concluded weeks
of incremental updates from the
NYPD, which continued to release
new surveillance shots and video
of a man wanted for questioning
before fi nally making the arrest on
August 12. The police did not immediately
respond to the question
of whether the man whose picture
and videos they distributed was
Diallo.
The community held a vigil for
Harris earlier this month.
The case, like many others involving
transgender women, has
served as a prime example of the
ongoing pattern of police and media
failing to respect the names
and gender identities of trans and
➤ TIFFANY HARRIS’ MURDER, continued on p.7
No Cops Charged in 2019 Kawaski Trawick Killing
Family demands NYPD fi re those involved in gay man’s fatal shooting in Bronx home
BY MATT TRACY
The cops involved in the
fatal shooting of an out
gay man in his own
apartment in the Bronx
last year will not face charges,
Bronx District Attorney Darcel
Clark announced on August 12,
infuriating the victim’s family and
sparking calls for the offi cers to be
fi red.
The NYPD told Gay City News in
April 2019 that 32-year-old Kawaski
Trawick, who lived at Hill House
in the borough’s Morris Heights
section, called police saying his
apartment was on fi re. His neighbors
also called the police, bringing
offi cers Brendan Thompson and
Herbert Davis to his apartment.
Offi cers claimed that upon their
arrival Trawick was holding a
kitchen knife and broomstick, after
which cops tased him. The police
Kawaski Trawick, a gay man who was shot to death by cops in his Bronx home early last year.
alleged he then recovered and
charged at them, knife in hand,
prompting the fatal shooting.
The cops who responded to the
FACEBOOK/ KAWASKI TRAWICK
case faced scrutiny in the aftermath
of the shooting. Public Advocate
Jumaane Williams told
Gay City News last October that
he watched the police body camera
footage from the incident and
concluded that “it was quite clear
that they had every opportunity to
come out of that house and instead
they stayed in.”
“There was a knife in his kitchen
— I don’t know where else you
would have a knife than in a kitchen,”
Williams explained. “The police
just opened the door. Think
about how you would feel if somebody
opened the door.”
Clark, meanwhile, issued a public
statement this week in which she
said the case calls for “a thoughtful
review of police procedures and
training techniques” but conceded
that “we do not fi nd that the facts
warrant a criminal prosecution.”
Clark said the offi ce’s public integrity
bureau met with Trawick’s
family and advocates on August 12
➤ KAWASKI TRAWICK, continued on p.7
August 27 - September 9,6 2020 | GayCityNews.com
/GayCityNews.com
