Arrest made in transgender murder
Melissa Montoya, Fort Myers News-Press
http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/florida/2014/07/31/transgender-murder-arrest/13402199/
Fort Myers, Florida (News-Press) -- Police reports indicate a man arrested in the fiery murder of a transgender woman may have been angry she outed him to the community.
Fort Myers police arrested Terry Lynn Brady, 45, of Fort Myers, on Tuesday, saying he shot Yaz'min Shancez, 31, then lit her on fire and left her to die behind a Budget store off Fowler Street on June 19.
Brady was arrested after a month-long investigation. Brady was charged with second-degree murder. Shancez, known in police reports as Eddie James Owens, her birth name, was found by a Budget employee when he was taking his trash out to a garbage bin behind the store, according to the arrest report.
A neighbor who lived across from Brady at the Salamanca Apartment complex, said Brady always seemed nice enough.
"He worked, I think, all the time," Stephen Bellman said. "I saw him leaving early, but he always said 'hi.'"
Shannon Adams, Shancez's stepmother, said she was happy the investigation led to an arrest.
It gives the family closure, Adams said. Shancez's sister was killed a year to the day before Shancez's slaying. That murder hasn't been solved.
"We'll be in court and see what happens," Adams said. "Hopefully, they give (Brady) the worst penalty he can get. You don't do that to an animal."
The police report paints a grisly scene. Shancez had gunshot wounds to her chest, and a portion of her body was burned. Detectives wrote she was wearing two shirts, numerous bracelets, false eyelashes and flip flops, but she was missing her underwear and pants.
Brady has 35 arrests and citations in Lee County, most of them for driving violations. Others include arrests for open alcohol, sale and possession of cocaine, marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and solicitation/lewdness. He had pleaded no contest to soliciting another for lewdness in 2010.
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