Guy in Pennsylvania is Accused of Killing and Dismembering a Transgender Teen He Met on an LGBTQ Dating Site Docs
After meeting on an online dating app, a man in Pennsylvania is now in jail on charges that he lured a transgender girl into the woods and cut her up.
According to a criminal complaint made with the Mercer Police Department, DaShawn Watkins, 29, is charged with the death of 14-year-old Pauly Likens. Likens was last seen on June 22 and went missing on June 25.
The report said that Likens’ father, who called Pauly his son, called the police to say that his kid was missing because no one had seen or heard from the teenager since June 23 in the early morning.
The report said Likens was going to spend the night with a friend they didn’t know.
The Hermitage Police Department was called on June 25 to a report of human parts found at Shenango River Lake in Clark Borough, Pennsylvania, that had been cut up. Based on the teen’s cellphone location, interviews with friends, and surveillance images, it was found that Likens was in that area on June 23.
Later, the Mercer County coroner confirmed that the “various dismembered human remains” that police found over the next week were those of Likens.
According to a forensic pathologist, the teen was cut up by “some type of cutting instrument.”
As per the document, the 14-year-old’s death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head, and the method of death was determined to be murder.
The criminal complaint says that Watkins was linked to the scene of the horrible murder by surveillance video, social media records, and cellphone records. Assault, murder, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a body are some of the charges against him.
Police say the 29-year-old told them he met Likens on the popular LGBTQ dating app Grindr and that the two of them decided to meet up.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke out in support of the Likens family and called for state rules that “treat hate crimes against LGBTQ+ folks the same way other hate crimes are treated.”
In a Tuesday post on X, he said, “The First Lady and I are thinking of Pauly Likens’ friends, family, and our whole LGBTQ+ community right now.”
“Pennsylvania State Police’s investigation is ongoing, and her horrific murder must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said. “It’s past time to strengthen Pennsylvania’s laws to treat hate-based crimes against LGBTQ+ folks the same way other hate crimes are treated.”
The police have not said for sure if the murder was a hate crime.
Watkins is due to go to court on July 25 for a preliminary hearing.