An Army soldier currently stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas has been arrested for the August murder of a transgender woman.
Anthony Michael Bowden, 21, was arrested Tuesday on murder charges for the slaying of Erykah Tijerina, according to county criminal records. He is being held at a county jail on a $750,000 bond.
Bowden joined the Army in July of 2013 and was moved to the El Paso, Tex. military base in January of 2014 where he was a missile crewman, according to Fort Bliss officials.
Police told KVIA that forensic evidence led police to suspect Bowden and that he was arrested after being interviewed.
Tijerina, 36, was found stabbed to death in her home at the Rio Grande Apartments in El Paso, Tex. the night of Aug. 9.
Tijerina is one of18 known transgender people to be murdered in the U.S. this year, according to numbers collected by the Human Rights Campaign.
The slain woman’s two sisters told KFOX14 when interviewed after her death that they feared she was targeted because she was transgender. El Paso, Tex. police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Carrillo told The Daily News the murder will not be ruled a hate crime.
