Hold on #gayes because this story is going to take some twists and turns.
On August 12, 2002, two transgender best friends Stephanie Thomas, 19, and Ukea Davis, 18, were murdered on the 4900 block of C Street, S.E. about 3:20 a.m., just blocks away from where they both lived together. The two were sitting in a car when they were shot in a hail of gunfire from a semiautomatic. The death of the two teenage girls enraged the community and city officials but the murder remained unsolved for 18 years.
Homicide Detective Daniel Whalen of Homicide Branch’s Cold Case Squad has spoken to two "ear witnesses" that have shed light on the murder. An "ear witness" is someone who was not physically there to witness the crime but spoke directly to to the person involved in the crime.
D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham explained that the detective had went back to the case and found out that there was a lead that was not followed up on which led the detective to the ear witness. "It was a person who was already in jail and that person gave some pretty specific information to the investigator that led him to believe the suspect in the case essentially told him what happened,” Newsham continued. “And then the investigator was able to find a second person who did the same thing. So we’re pretty confident that this suspect [Price] was the one who was responsible for the homicides.”
One of the witness currently resides in Maryland Department of Corrections Patuxent Institution where he is serving a prison sentence. According to the witness the murder suspect Michael Dupree Price of Southeast D.C. admitted to have murdered the girls. According to Price, he had killed the girls because they were transgender. The witness had been told, "that he had killed the decedents because they tricked him into believing they were girls and one had engaged in a sexual act with him.”
But it get's deeper. The mother of Ukea Davis, Queen Washington, and many other's in the community said that Price was fully aware the girls were transgender. Not only that, but Price only lived a few houses away from the girls and was seen with them often. “It’s a lie,” the mother said. “Everybody in the neighborhood knew who Stephanie and Ukea were, that they were transgender...He lived only a few blocks from Stephanie and his name would come up...Nobody believes this story by these witnesses that Price was shocked when he learned they were transgender,” Washington said. “I think Michael Price liked Stephanie. My thought on the motive is Stephanie had a relationship with Price and something went wrong and he killed her.”
Men murdering transgender is not new. It actually has a name called, " Trans Panic Defense" in which a man claims to have a sexual encounter with a woman and are shocked to find out they are transgender. It is a classic alibi for many murders.
So what is his sentence? Death, but not by a court order. On May 5th, 2017, approximately 4:56 a.m. on the 4600 block of Benning Road, Southeast, Micheal Dupree price was found on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds. He died shortly after being taken to the hospital.
You would think that the story would be over at this point, but it is not - the reason being is because the two teenage girls supposedly died after being in a car chase, with multiple cars. Transgender rights activist Earline Budd appeared on the scene of the murder after hearing the sound of tire screeches and another witness reported seeing a third car that was deliberately blocking the way for the girls escape while Price was quick behind. “What we know is they were chased and we saw these skid marks on the street,” said Budd. “The witnesses said they were chased and then they were blocked off. And that’s why they were able to shoot them and kill them in the car – they, not him, they.”
Budd, Washington and others believe the "they" to be a second witness who was a close friend to Price and lived in the neighborhood. The man's name was Ricardo Smith aka Black. Key word here is was. Queen Washington's niece told her Ricardo Smith has reportedly died in prison about 10 months to a year ago.
One last thing. Price's former girlfriend said at the time of the murder she and Price were actually on a date. Davis' mother, Washington and the transgender activist Earline Budd, suspect that thw two witness may be coming forth simply because of the long-standing 25,000 reward on information that would close the case. That would mean 50K for the witnesses.
If you managed to read this all the way to the end, congratulations but here is the real question #gayes ; was the case solved?