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| Marisela Castro / Houston Chronicle |
A Transgender woman was shot in the back of her head and left for dead on a street in East Houston Friday morning.
The Houston Chronicle has identified the victim as Marisela Castro, who recently moved to Houston from North Carolina to be closer to her Family.
Houston police detectives told ABC13 that the shooting happened very quickly, in just 10 seconds.
A transgender woman is dead after a shooting in the middle this east side neighborhood off Wood Shadows & Centerwood.
— Charly Edsitty (@CharlyABC13) July 29, 2022
It’s believed the victim was in her maroon Chrysler 200 when she stopped in the neighborhood & got out. The shooter got out from the backseat & shot her pic.twitter.com/OIIBcJTzsu
The victim was shot in the back in the middle of Wood Shadows Drive near the East Freeway around 1:45 a.m. Friday, police said.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives said the victim was driving her car -- a four-door maroon Chrysler 200 -- with two other people also inside.
Police said the woman stopped the car on Centerwood Drive at Wood Shadows Drive, and she and a man got out.
That's when the suspect fired one shot from behind before getting back in the car and taking off, according to HPD.
"Our victim stepped out of the vehicle, was driving another person - it's hard to say - they were dressed in black, possibly a male," Det. Sgt. Thomas Simmons said. "They got out of the backseat. There was one gunshot fired. The victim fell. The suspect returned to the back of the vehicle. The vehicle left."
According to the TDoR TransLivesMatter website, Castro is the 55th trans person murdered in the USA since the 2019 TDoR.
Rest in Peace Marisela Castro.
Investigators are urging anyone with information about the incident to contact the HPD Homicide Division at (713) 308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-8477.
