WASHINGTON — Montgomery County police say a transgender woman may have been lured to an alley before her murder, NBC Washington reports.
Court records obtained by NBC Washington shed more light on what happened before Zella Ziona, 21, was killed Thursday.
Ziona was shot while in a service alley between the Montgomery Village Plaza and the Montgomery Village Crossing shopping centers. A Germantown man, Rico Hector Leblond, 20, of the 12700 block of Wisteria Drive, has since been charged with murder in connection with her death, WTOP has reported.
About 30 minutes before the killing, police responded to a report of a group of people fighting in the area, and one person being hit with a stick, NBC Washington reports.
Detectives now believe the person who was hit was Ziona.
Police say Leblond was also involved in the fight and became angry when Ziona gained the advantage, NBC Washington reports, citing the court records.
The court records allege that Leblond jumped from behind a trash bin and began shooting, NBC Washington reports.
A witnesses described seeing him with a monster mask over the lower part of his face; that mask was later found near the scene.
Leblond was in Montgomery County Circuit Court Monday morning on an unrelated charge; he’s due in court on the murder charges Nov. 13.
