Two South Carolina men are facing charges for the murder of Pebbles LaDime “Dime” Doe, a 24-year-old Black transgender woman who was killed in 2019.
Daqua Ritter is facing a hate crime charge while his associate Xavier Pinckney is hit with obstruction of justice for allegedly providing “false and misleading” statements to authorities investigating the death.
Ritter, 26, is accused of shooting Doe in Allendale, South Carolina because of her “actual and perceived gender identity,” according to NBC News.
Prosecutors said Ritter shot Doe then misled investigators about his whereabouts on the day of the murder.
In regards to the charges against Pinckney, prosecutors said he lied about seeing Ritter during the morning ahead of the murder, Insider reports. Investigators also said Pinckney told police that he did not have a phone number, but he had called and texted Doe on the day of her death.
Ritter could face a maximum sentence of life in prison for the hate crime. The obstruction of justice charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment. Ritter was arrested on Monday in New York City while Pinckney was apprehended on Thursday.
Doe, who died on Aug. 4, 2019, was the second transgender person to be killed in South Carolina in a month at that time.
