Transgender girl killed and dismembered in western Pennsylvania

Editor’s note: This story was originally published by the Philadelphia Gay News.

BY TIM CWIEK | Prosecutors are seeking justice for Pauly Likens, a 14-year-old transgender girl from Sharon, Pennsylvania, who was brutally murdered last month. Her remains were scattered in and around a park lake in western Pennsylvania.

“The bottom line is that we are dealing with a 14-year-old who was brutally murdered and dismembered,” Mercer County District Attorney Peter C. Acker said in an email. “Pauly Likens deserves justice, her family deserves justice, and we are trying to bring that justice.”

On June 23, DaShawn Watkins allegedly struck and killed Likens near the Budd Street Public Park and Canoe Launch in Sharon, Pennsylvania. Watkins then dismembered Likens’ body with a saw and scattered her remains in and around the Shenango River Lake in Clark Borough.

On July 2, Watkins was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, desecration of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He is being held without bail in the Mercer County Jail.

The coroner stated that the cause of death was severe trauma to the head and classified the death as a homicide.

Cellphone records, social media and surveillance video link Watkins to the crime. In addition, traces of Likens’ blood were found in and around Watkins’ apartment in Sharon, Pennsylvania, authorities say.

A candlelight vigil in memory of Likens will be held on Saturday, July 13, hosted by the LGBTQIA+ Alliance Shenango Valley. The vigil begins at 7 p.m. at 87 Stambaugh Ave. in Sharon, Pennsylvania.

Pamela Ladner, president of the alliance, mourned Likens’ death.

“Pauly’s aunt described her as a sweet soul, inside and out,” Ladner said in an email. “She was a selfless child who loved the outdoors and wanted to be a park ranger like her aunt.”

Prosecutor Acker said Liken’s death was one of the worst crimes he has seen in his 46 years of practicing law, but he cautioned against calling it a hate crime. “The PSP (Pennsylvania State Police) does not believe this is actually one (hate crime) because the defendant admitted to being gay and the victim was reportedly a trans girl,” Acker claimed.

Acker praised the law enforcement agencies that worked on the case, including the Pennsylvania State Police, Hermitage Police Department, Sharon Police Department, Shenango Reservoir park rangers, Mercer County Coroner John Libonati and cadaver dogs.

“The number of hours spent identifying the victim and bringing charges against the defendant is enormous,” Acker added. “We take the murder of any human being very seriously, especially when they are young and brutally killed and dismembered.”

Acker also pointed out that all defendants in criminal proceedings are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

This is an evolving story.