Jones was also known as "Gully Queen" A transgender Jamaican teenager has been killed by a mob, which beat, stabbed, shot and ran over the 17-year-old who had turned up at a party in women’s clothing. Named in media only by her male birth name Dwayne Jones, the teenager was presenting publicly as female for the first time at a street party of about 300 people in the town of Irwin. Jones was the centre of attraction shortly after arriving in a taxi at 2am with flatmates, and was whispering to people at the party “I’m a girl, I’m a girl”. When someone snapped her bra, Jones panicked and ran down the street. A mob followed and assaulted the teenager with all manner of weapons. Reports are that Jones was half-conscious for two hours before being killed in another sustained attack. A friend, Khloe, who tried to help Jones was also badly beaten, and hid in a nearby church and then the surrounding woods, unable to call for help because she didn't have her cellphone. Jones had already dropped out of high school for being relentlessly teased about being effeminate, and was kicked out of home by her own father at 14. Police are yet to make a single arrest due to what they describe as “a strong anti-informant culture that makes eyewitnesses to murders and other crimes too afraid or simply unwilling to come forward”. Witnesses have told them they couldn’t see the attackers’ faces. Note: While some media describe Jones as gay, it is clear from witnesses and friend’s reports that the teenager identified as female and was starting to take steps to live as a female.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 12th August 2013 - 8:19am