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The Metropolitan Police Department is investing a homicide that occurred in Northwest and the sexual assault of a woman who is transgender that occurred in Northeast. Both incidents happened early Saturday morning, but the cases are not believed to be related.
According to a release, at about 1 a.m. on Saturday morning, a transgender female accepted a ride from an unknown male, who drove her to a nearby alley, near the 1100 block of Atlas Court NE, pulled out a gun, and sexually assaulted her.
Police describe the suspect as a black male in his twenties with short curly hair, dark complexion, a slim build, and wearing a black shirt and pants. He was reportedly driving a gold four-door Lexus, which may be an ES 350. There have been a string of robberies involving transgender women lately, but police say they’re unsure if this is related.
Later in the morning, police responded to reports of gunshots at around 2:23 a.m. near the intersection of Fuller Street and Mozart Place NW. Upon arrival, they found an adult male suffering from a gunshot wound in the 1600 block of Columbia Road NW. The victim, who has been identified as 27-year-old Luis E. Avila, was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police are currently seeking any information related to both cases and are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information leading to an arrest in the homicide and $1,000 to anyone who has information leading to an arrest in the sexual assault case. Call (202) 727-9099 or submit an anonymous text tip to 50411 if you have any information.