Family Seeks Justice in Murder of 2003 NP Grad

Kyra Cordova — a transgender male who grew up in Hatfield as Kristopher Herold and graduated from North Penn High in 2003 — was murdered on Adams Avenue in the Frankford section of Philadelphia on Sept. 3 by a gunshot wound to her head.

Now, as her family told Linda Stein of The Reporter, they are hoping justice is soon served on her unknown murderer.

Cordova’s mother, Dawn Maher, of Lansdale, told Stein that her daughter was at a Wawa minutes before she was gunned down on the side of the road.

Maher told Stein the family wasn’t notified of their loss for seven days. Her purse and phone were taken, according to the article. She was finally identified through fingerprints filed with the police from a previous arrest, according to the article.

Cordova recently went by the last name “Kruz” and was active in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender scene in the city, according to the article. She had volunteered at the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiate, according to Stein’s article, and found a job in 2011 at Home Depot.

Calls on leads are coming into Philadelphia Police daily, according to Stein’s article.

Cordova’s family is raising money for an award.

Supporters, friends and family can also visit the “Justice for Kyra” Facebook page.

About 300 people came out to Cordova’s vigil in Center City, and another 100 came out to a life service vigil in Upper Gwynedd, according to the article.

Call Philadelphai Police Homicide at 215-686-3334 with any information on Cordova’s murder.

Read more about the Maher family’s struggle to cope with Cordova’s death at this Reporter story.