Man To Be Charged In Fatal Beating Of Transgender Woman, Prosecutors Say

CHELSEA, NY — A man in police custody is likely to be charged in connection with the fatal beating of a transgender woman in Chelsea last month, prosecutors said.

Brenda Bostick, 59, died last week after suffering severe head trauma on April 25. Prosecutors believe that Joseph Griffin, 26, struck Bostick's head, fatally injuring her during an argument. Griffin and Bostick reportedly knew each other when they previously lived together in a homeless shelter.

Griffin has not yet been charged in Bostick's death, but prosecutors said at his arraignment on a separate arrest that charges will likely be filed against him in connection with the homicide. Griffin was arrested shortly after Bostick was killed when he jumped onto the hood of a taxi and struck the cab's windshield, shattering the glass, according to the criminal complaint filed against him. He remains in police custody. Patch was not immediately able to contact Griffin's attorney.

Bostick was found unconscious and unresponsive on a Chelsea street corner on April 25, authorities said. She was transported to a nearby hospital before dying from her injuries on Thursday. Medics found her at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and W 29th Street, blocks from the homeless shelter on W 25th Street that was her last listed address. The city's medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.

An NYPD spokesman confirmed to Patch that Bostick's death is not being investigated as a hate crime or bias incident.

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, which works to combat violence against LGBT communities, said in a statement that Bostick was the 10th transgender woman killed this year.

"Transgender woman are targeted all too often for severe and deadly violence," said Beverly Tillery, the project's executive director. "As a society we can stop this epidemic by hiring trans women of color, making sure they have safe places to live and standing up when we see or hear them being demeaned and attacked and simply by valuing their lives. The moment to act is now."

Chelsea has seen few slayings in recent years. Last year, there were no murders in the 10th precinct, which includes Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen, and there was one in the neighborhood in 2015, according to NYPD data.

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Lead image via Ciara McCarthy/Patch.