Arrests Made In Trans Sex Worker Homicide Cases: CMPD

CHARLOTTE, NC — Police arrested two suspects in Union County Friday who they say are connected to the fatal shootings of two transgender sex workers in Charlotte hotel rooms in less than two weeks.

The news comes less than a day after Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department issued an urgent warning to the LGBT sex worker community to be "hyper-cautious and hyper-vigilant" as police searched for suspects.

"This is something we rarely see," CMPD spokesperson Rob Tufano said in a news conference Thursday evening.

SEE ALSO: 2 Trans Sex Workers Slain, CMPD Issues Urgent Warning

Friday afternoon, CMPD said Dontarius Long, 21, and Joel Brewer, 33, had been arrested and were to be charged with the murders.

Police responded to a homicide scene in north Charlotte before dawn Thursday morning, reporting that a male victim had been found shot to death at the Sleep Inn up in our University City area. CMPD identified the victim as Remy Fennell.

The case seemed potentially linked to a similar case, a CMPD spokesperson said Thursday evening. Jaida Peterson was found shot to death at the Quality Inn on Queen City Drive in West Charlotte on Easter Sunday.

On the surface, the cases have obvious parallels, Trufano said. Both of the victims were transgender women, sex workers who were shot to death in hotels.

"Naturally the assumption would be these have got to be connected, right? We don't know," Trufano said. "We just flat out do not know, but they're consistent enough when you have circumstances and similarities like that, that it's gotten our attention. And it needs to get the attention of the community."

His warning to the community was chilling.

"They have to know there's probably, arguably, never a more vulnerable time for them than tonight," until the person or people behind the homicides are apprehended and charged, Trufano said.

"We need them to understand that they have to be really hyper-cautious, hyper-vigilant with who they're engaged with, their surroundings, if they see anything suspicious, if they hear anything suspicious — they've got to immediately call 9-1-1," he said.

During the investigations, detectives identified Long and Brewer as suspects in the case.

Friday, Brewer was taken into custody by CMPD's Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, the Union County Sheriff's Office and the Marshville Police Department. He will be changed with two counts of murder, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon, CMPD said.

Long was also arrested by CMPD's VCAT unit Friday. He will be charged with murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.

"I can tell you that our investigation has advanced to the point where I feel confident in telling you there is no one else at large that was a part of this," CMPD Lt. Bryan Crum said Friday. "These two individuals, and these two individuals alone are responsible for Jaida's and Remy's murder."

The investigation remains ongoing and will broaden to see if there are possibly other victims, Crum said. "There could be others outside our jurisdiction. We're looking into those potentials as well," he said.