The individual charged with the murder of 20-year-old transgender woman Taya Ashton, who was found shot to death in her Suitland, Maryland, home on July 17, 2021, was sentenced on January 10 to 48 years in prison, as announced in a digital press conference by the prosecution in Prince George’s County, MD.
DeAllen Price, 29, pleaded guilty to Second-Degree Murder and Use of a Firearm in the Commission of the Crime of Murder in October, as reported by Assistant PG County State’s Attorney Sherrie Waldrup, the case’s lead counsel. Price had been in custody since his arrest, which occurred less than a week after the murder.
During the press event, the county’s lead counsel, Aisha Braveboy, and Waldrup shared details about the case that had not been public at the time of Price’s arrest two and a half years earlier.
Braveboy stated at the press conference, “What we know in this case is that the victim and the defendant knew each other. They had a close relationship with one another.” In July 2021, during one of their encounters, there was a dispute, Braveboy continued, which subsequently escalated into this tragedy.
Waldrup described the case as very complex because, until the time of sentencing, the motive for the murder was unknown, even though many in the community believed it was related to Taya Ashton being transgender.
Waldrup revealed that there were no witnesses to the incident and that the initial evidence was largely circumstantial, as “we didn’t have any definitive proof to show that until sentencing.” She informed press conference attendees, “And when it came time for the sentencing, the defendant did provide that context, if you will, as to why this occurred.”
The attorney stated that the defendant “spoke at sentencing and informed the court that he was having an intimate relationship with Taya. And it was that night that he found out for the first time that Taya was not a woman by birth. He then reacted and shot her as a result.”
“That was just a chilling thing to hear,” Waldrup continued. “It’s intolerable and horrible. It is certainly not a defense or justification for what happened to Taya.”
In response to a question from the Washington Blade asking if Price might have been attempting to invoke it, Waldrup said that neither Price nor his defense used the so-called “trans panic” defense, which defense attorneys have employed in murder cases involving transgender, homosexual, or gay victims.
She noted that the “panic” defense is illegal in Maryland, as well as many other states and D.C., when it is attempted to be used based on a victim’s gender identity, sexual orientation, race, nationality, religion, and other factors.
Waldrup stated that “Taya was someone who was loved by her family. She had a great love for her family.” Waldrup concluded that although Taya was part of a group that some might consider marginalized, she did not live marginally in Prince George’s County.
“Therefore, now,” Braveboy said at the press conference, “What we want to send is the message that this is a free state regardless of how one wants to live or chooses to live.”
“People are free to live their lives as they wish, but that does not give anyone the right to harm or kill them. The story has ended,” she said. “And if they choose to commit murder, we will hold them accountable. And Mr. Price has been held accountable today.”
Braveboy noted that she and her team of attorneys are dedicated to aggressively prosecuting crimes that target members of the LGBTQ community. She mentioned that her office established an LGBTQIA+ Task Force to assist with issues impacting that community.
Krystal Oriadha, a member of the PG County Council, Zachary O’Lare, the assistant police chief of that county, and Renee Lau, an official with the transgender and LGBTQ service organization Baltimore Safe Haven, also spoke at the press conference.
