WASHINGTON — D.C. police have arrested an 18-year-old in last week’s hit-and-run that critically injured a transgender woman.
Police said the assault could still be ruled a hate crime.
Startwaune Anderson was arrested Wednesday on a charge of aggravated assault while armed. Police allege that he used a vehicle as a weapon and struck 26-year-old Davon Washington in the 400 block of K Street early July 5.
Washington is still hospitalized in critical but stable condition.
Witnesses told police that she had left a club with friends when a vehicle approached them.
“There was some dialogue with some individuals at that time,” said acting Capt. Anthony Haythe during a news conference Wednesday.
Last week, a friend told NBC Washington that some men had wanted Washington’s phone number but that she wasn’t interested and kept walking.
Shortly afterward, she was dancing near the middle of the street when a car struck her.
Police believe that Anderson was the driver of that vehicle and Capt. Haythe said “additional arrests could be coming.”
He said investigators are still looking to interview additional witnesses and D.C. police haven’t yet ruled out that the hit-and-run was a hate crime.
“Some things don’t necessarily have to be spoken,” said Ruby Corado, the founder of Casa Ruby, a 24/7 community center for LGBT youth in D.C.
“Given the nature of all of the crimes committed against trans women of color, this has a lot of the patterns we have seen in the past,” Corado told reporters Wednesday.
Corado said that transgender women of color tend to be the victims of particularly brutal crimes.
“Talking to someone in a vehicle should not lead to your death,” Corado said.
Police will provide further details of the arrest Thursday, Haythe said.
WTOP’s Dick Uliano contributed to this report.
