“I’ve gotten several questions about whether or not we’re investigating this as a hate crime. The answer is no because the defendant is an admitted homosexual and the victim was transitioning," said Mercer County District Attorney Peter C. Aker.
A Pennsylvania coroner says that body parts discovered in and around a lake in the western part of the state are those of a transgender teenager.
Friends and family reported 14-year-old Pauly Likens missing on June 25, three days after she had last been seen leaving a friend's house to go home, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
The same day the Sharon Police Department began their search, officers with the Hermitage Police Department were alerted to the discovery of body parts belonging to an unknown person in and around the Shenango River Reservoir.
On July 3, the Mercer County Coroner identified the remains as those of Likens.
Police have now arrested 29-year-old DeShawn Watkins and charged him with murder.
Watkins allegedly met Likens through the popular dating app Grindr, according to a criminal complaint filed in Mercer County obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
The complaint alleges that Likens and Watkins met at around 3 a.m. on June 23 at a canoe slip in the city of Sharon, located just a few miles west of the state's border with Ohio.
According to the complaint, surveillance footage captured Watkins leaving his apartment with a large duffel bag that appeared to be empty prior to meeting with Likens. Surveillance footage then captured Watkins struggling to carry the now-full bag when he returned to the apartment, according to the complaint.
The following day, surveillance footage captured Watkins leaving his apartment with bags throughout the day, according to the complaint.
The complaint says that police were able to obtain a search warrant based on this footage and discovered traces of Likens' blood throughout Watkins' apartment on July 2, one day before his arrest.
Watkins is now being held in the Mercer County Jail without bond. He is facing charges including first-degree murder, aggravated assault with attempts to cause serious bodily injury with extreme indifference, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
He has yet to enter a plea and does not have a lawyer at this time.
The Mercer County District Attorney has said in multiple interviews that he will likely not be pursuing hate crime charges against Watkins, a 29-year-old man who, according to the complaint, allegedly had sexual relations with the 14-year-old murder victim.
“I’ve gotten several questions about whether or not we’re investigating this as a hate crime. The answer is no because the defendant is an admitted homosexual and the victim was transitioning," said District Attorney Peter C. Aker.
The victim's father remembered his daughter in an emotional interview with WTAE after the coroner identified the remains last week.
"The world lost a little shine the day Pauly was taken," Paul Likens Sr. said.
