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Manhunt Underway for Men Suspected in Murder of Transgender Woman in Philadelphia

Kiesha Jenkins is the 21st transgender or gender nonconforming person to be killed this year alone.
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Philadelphia police are searching for at least five men suspected of beating and killing a transgender woman, in the latest of a spate of deadly attacks on transgender people in the U.S.

Investigators said that 22-year-old Kiesha Jenkins had just been dropped off by a car in the city's north when around five or six men approached and began beating her. One of the men then fatally shot her twice in the back.

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"We don't know if it's potentially a hate crime, or a robbery – we really don't know," homicide Capt. James Clark told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's too early in the investigation."

Clark added that authorities did not believe Jenkins knew her attackers or had any contact with them before the incident.

The driver of the car that dropped Jenkins off has not been identified and there is no description of the car.

Related: Advocates Hail US Court Decision to Grant Undocumented Transgender Immigrant Asylum

Jenkins is the 21st transgender or gender nonconforming person to be killed this year alone, and the second transgender woman killed in Philadelphia, according to the LGBT advocacy group, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.

Nine of those investigations have led to murder charges, according to a Fusion investigation. At least 12 cases were hate-motivated homicides of transgender people and all of those victims were women of color.

In May, police charged a man involved in the fatal stabbing death of 21-year-old black transgendered woman London Kiki Chanel in North Philadelphia. The suspect, Raheam Felton, 31, was the boyfriend of one of Chanel's housemates and killed the woman over an alleged domestic dispute. He is awaiting trial.

Related: New US Immigration Guidelines on Transgender Detainees Fail to Protect, say Activists