Ty Underwood
Transgender woman Ty Underwood, 24, was shot to death in Tyler on Monday, Jan. 26.
Tyler detectives have a few leads, but nothing substantial, they told KYTZ, the local CBS affiliate.
Police believe shots were fired at Underwood’s car. They said she tried to drive off but got stuck in a grassy area and hit a telephone pole. The murder took place on Twenty-Fourth Street in North Tyler.
Friends, including Underwood’s roommate, are calling this a hate crime. The detective on the case called it a “senseless murder.”
Underwood worked in a nursing home and was recently accepted in nursing school, according the ABC affiliate KLTV.
In 1993, Nicholas West was murdered in a city park in Tyler. That investigation was the first time a hate crime against a gay victim was taken seriously by police in Texas.
Anyone with information should contact Tyler Police Department at (903) 531-1000 or Tyler-Smith County Crime Stoppers at (903) 597-2833.
