Police seek suspect in Oklahoma transgender man’s killing

Police are investigating the slaying of a prominent local advocate for transgender rights who was shot and killed on New Year’s Day while driving a cab.

Dustin Parker, 25, was found dead early Wednesday in the driver’s seat of the cab he was driving in McAlester, Kevin Hearod, a police captain in the city about 105 miles (169 kilometers) southeast of Oklahoma City, told the McAlester News-Capital. Police are searching for a suspect or anyone with information about the killing, he said.

The police department didn’t immediately reply to phone messages seeking further information that were left Friday by The Associated Press. Investigators have not said whether they believe Parker’s gender identity had anything to do with why he was killed.

Brian West, the owner of Rover Taxi in McAlester, told the AP that Parker got a call for a fare and arrived at the address on the city’s west side, where police later found Parker dead.

West, a longtime friend, said Parker had a wife and four children, ages 2 to 13.

Parker was well-known in the LGBTQ community and helped found a local chapter of Oklahomans for Equality in McAlester.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign, Parker is the first transgender person killed in the U.S. in 2020.