News (USA)

NYC transgender killing suspect says he ‘didn’t want to be fooled’

NYC transgender killing suspect says he ‘didn’t want to be fooled’

NEW YORK (AP) — A man charged with beating a transgender woman to death in Harlem told police he “didn’t want to be fooled.”

James Dixon is charged with manslaughter and assault in the Aug. 17, 2013 death of 21-year-old Islan Nettles.

The New York Times reports that a videotape of Dixon’s confession was played during a pretrial hearing Friday.

The 25-year-old Dixon told detectives that he started talking with Nettles on the street, not realizing she was a transgender woman.

Dixon said in the interview that he became enraged when one of his friends taunted him, saying, “That’s a guy.”

Prosecutors say Nettles died of head injuries she sustained when her head hit the pavement as Dixon hit her. She was taken off life support after a week in a coma.

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