Deshawnda Sanchez was a 21-year-old transgender woman who was shot and killed on December 3, 2014, in the Chesterfield Square area of South Los Angeles. Known as Ta-Ta, she was fleeing an attempted robbery and pounded on the door of a nearby home around 4 a.m. seeking help; surveillance footage shows a vehicle pulling up, someone running to the porch, and then fleeing after the shooting. Sanchez was on the phone with a 911 operator when she was killed and told the operator the suspect was returning just before she sought shelter.

Police later identified and arrested a suspect, Robert James Spells, 30, an Inglewood resident, who was taken into custody at a relative’s home in Los Angeles. Detectives initially did not classify the killing as a hate crime but did not rule out targeting because of Sanchez’s gender identity; her family, including her twin sister, publicly expressed the belief that her gender identity was a factor. Anyone who knew Deshawnda or has information about what happened is asked to come forward.