Atlanta Police has found a person of interest related to Rasheeda Williams, the Black transgender woman who was brutally gunned down earlier this year.
Homicide detectives have confirmed that Jermarcus Jernigan, 17, was issued an arrest warrant and has been charged with murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm. He is being charged as an adult under Georgia law.
“Mr. Jernigan turned himself in at the Zone 1 Precinct,” reads a statement from Atlanta Police. He has since been transported to the Fulton County Jail and placed into custody.
On Apr. 24, Shine My Crown reported that Williams, who was chronicled in the Sundance Film Festival documentary Kokomo City was shot and killed.
According to the Atlanta Police Department, Rasheeda Williams, who was also a performer who went by the name Koko Da Doll, was found on the 2400 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SW near the intersection with Hamilton E. Holmes Drive. She was 35.
Police say they found Williams with bullet wounds after they were called to the scene shortly before 11pm. “She was not alert, conscious or breathing, and pronounced deceased on scene,” reads a statement from APD. “Homicide investigators responded to the scene and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
In an Instagram post, the director of the documentary in which she was featured confirmed her death, adding that he created the film to show the “natural side of Black trans women.”
“On Tuesday night, Rasheeda Williams was shot and killed in Atlanta. Rasheeda, aka Koko Da Doll, was the latest victim of violence against Black transgender women,” Smith wrote on Instagram. “I created Kokomo City because I wanted to show the fun, humanized, natural side of Black trans women. I wanted to create images that didn’t show the trauma or the statistics of murder of Transgender lives.”
The Atlanta Police Department said that Williams’ death marks the third in which transgender women in the city were involved in violent crimes since the year begin. Two of the three crimes took place within the last two weeks.
