A trial begins this week for the man accused of attacking Muhlaysia Booker about a month before her death, leaving the transgender woman with a broken wrist and concussion.
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-dmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/2NVWFKZKADOPCBGGADWSZ5SHUM.jpg)
Edward Dominic Thomas, 29, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after police say he admitted to beating up Booker on April 12 at the Royal Crest Apartments in east Oak Cliff.
Police said Thomas was one of the attackers caught on a video that went viral. In his arrest-warrant affidavit, police wrote that Thomas was offered $200 to beat Booker.
He can be seen putting on gloves before walking over to Booker and punching her multiple times. Another suspect — one of two men who were identified in police documents but never arrested — repeatedly stomped on Booker’s face.
Watching that video, the victim’s grandmother said, and seeing Booker’s friends carry her “like a paper doll” to safety made her cry.
“It was just horrific. It was just terrible,” 62-year-old Debra Booker said. “Who’s that vicious?”
After the attack — which came about a month before 23-year-old Booker was found shot to death — Debra Booker said her granddaughter wasn’t afraid, but she did feel angry and betrayed.
“She said, ‘Granny, I’ve never been mistreated that bad,’” Debra Booker said.
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-dmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/BC7AALLT7KOVH5XTQ23LLLBJZU.jpg)
Muhlaysia Booker spoke at a rally a week after the attack, telling the crowd that the “time to seek justice is now.”
“This time, I can stand before you, where in other scenarios, we’re at a memorial,” Booker said then.
Police said at the time of Thomas’ arrest that they planned to review video and audio records to see how many people were involved in the beating and who, if anyone, offered Thomas money to beat Booker.
It does not appear any other suspects were arrested in the assault. Dallas police did not respond to questions about whether investigators were still looking for other suspects or why the two other named suspects had not been charged.
On May 18, Booker was found face-down on a street in Far East Dallas. She had been fatally shot, police said.
Another man, Kendrell Lavar Lyles, was charged with murder in her death about a month later. Police say he killed Booker and two other people, a man and woman who were shot in unrelated attacks.
Booker’s death devastated her family and made headlines nationwide, shedding light on the issue of violence against trans people of color.
After her daughter’s death, Booker’s mother, Stephanie Houston, started the Muhlaysia Booker Foundation, which aims to stop violence against transgender women and offers them housing, advocacy and support, the Dallas Voice reported. Houston declined to comment before the trial.
Her father, Peirre Booker, said all Muhlaysia wanted growing up was to be famous.
“It’s sad that Muhlaysia had to become famous after death,” he said.
The toll of her death hit him hard. He has had trouble eating and sleeping, he said.
He knows he needs to get back to work to provide for his other children — Muhlaysia was one of 15 of his children before she died, he said — but he said he is “still dealing with stuff mentally.”
Whatever “the state sees fit” will be proper punishment for Thomas, Peirre Booker said.
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-dmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/5UGCU5BEHNAENOYUB6R3WGCLZI.jpg)
Booker’s father and grandmother both said they were upset by Thomas’ defense attorney’s attempt to make sure Booker couldn’t be called by her chosen name, Muhlaysia, in court.
Read more: Judge denies defense attorneys' request to call Muhlaysia Booker by her birth name in Dallas court
Andrew W. Wilkerson, one of Thomas’ attorneys, wants the jury to see the altercation as a fight between two men, rather than a man assaulting a woman.
“The law looks at both of those [instances] differently," Wilkerson said. "As soon as the jury hears this, they're going to be confused."
The prosecutors argued that Booker should be referred to as “Muhlaysia” in court, rather than by her birth name.
“Our position is one out of respect,” prosecutor Jason Hermus told the judge at a hearing in August.
A judge agreed with the prosecution and denied the defense’s request to refer to Booker by her birth name during the trial.
Wilkerson repeatedly used male pronouns for Booker in Facebook posts in June that led to a gag order in the case.
Thomas has been awaiting trial in the Dallas County Jail since May, when he was ordered back behind bars. His electronic leg monitor recorded him at several unapproved locations on May 16, the day he was indicted, court records show. He has been held without bail ever since.
No trial date is set yet for Lyles, the man accused of murdering Booker.
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-dmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/DOTRZVPNXJGIJHIG2PAY5EIEDM.jpg)
Debra Booker said she hopes she can cope with having to endure two trials to see justice for her granddaughter.
“I want to be present at both trials. I just want to look at that person,” she said.
She wants to hear what the defendant might have to say for himself, she said.
“Because nothing about that was right,” she said. “Nothing about that assault was right, nothing.”
Thanks for reading Trial begins this week for man accused of beating Muhlaysia Booker in attack caught on viral video - The Dallas Morning News. Please share...!
0 Comment for "Trial begins this week for man accused of beating Muhlaysia Booker in attack caught on viral video - The Dallas Morning News"