After killing of trans teen, Pennsylvania House LGBTQ Caucus urges hate crime bill passage

In the wake of the killing of a 14-year-old transgender girl in Western Pennsylvania, some state House lawmakers are urging the Senate to pass an anti-hate crimes bill that would expand protections to gender and sexual-orientation classes.

“We mourn the death of Pauly Likens and refuse to stand idly by while LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians are targeted because of who they are,” members of the House LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus said in a written statement on Wednesday. “It’s unacceptable that current hate crime laws in our commonwealth are not applied to crimes motivated by a victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The remains of Pauly Likens of Sharon in Mercer County, began washing ashore July 2 along banks of the Shenango River Lake, police said. Authorities say the girl died of sharp force trauma to the head before being sawed into pieces and abandoned in locations around the lake.

DaShawn Watkins, 29, from Sharon, remains in custody at the Mercer County Prison without bail, facing a first-degree murder charge, among other charges. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 25.

Pauly’s death marks the 24th killing of a transgender person in the United States in less than a year.

“As incidents of violent hate crimes continue to rise across the nation, we urge our colleagues in the state Senate to pass H.B. 1027 and send it to the governor’s desk,” members of the House LGTBQ+ Caucus said. “It’s far past time to update Pennsylvania’s hate crime statute so that charges may reflect the especially heinous nature of hate-based violence.”

H.B. 1027, sponsored by Reps. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny County, and Napoleon Nelson, would amend the state’s ethnic intimidation statute to extend protections for victims targeted because of their race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, and disability, including autism. The bill would also provide victims with a civil cause of action against offenders.

The state House passed the legislation in a bipartisan vote in October 2023, but it has yet to be considered by the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee.

“Not only has a light gone out with the loss of Pauly Likens, but the LGBTQ+ communities across our commonwealth are shaken and fearful,” said Frankel, “The federal government and dozens of other states have acknowledged that these groups are targets for hate crimes, and they’ve provided tools to law enforcement accordingly. Who are we as a commonwealth if we refuse to protect vulnerable people?”

Gov. Josh Shapiro has pledged to sign the bill.

Police used cell phone data to link Watkins to Pauly and to track him down. Police said Watkins had arranged to meet someone the evening of June 22 through the dating app Grinder. Police used Pauly’s phone tracking to place her at a specific location along the reservoir in the early morning hours of June 23.

Mercer County District Attorney Peter Acker told PennLive he would seek to prosecute the case as a hate crime despite the existing law’s lack of protections.