Post by Scumhunter on Nov 24, 2018 4:45:02 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: Sarasota Crime Stoppers)
From the North Port Sun (yoursun.com):
NORTH PORT — On Sept. 8, Port Charlotte resident Tyren Kinard was found lifeless in grassy fields in North Port.
And in the month that has passed since the homicide, little information has been gathered beyond that.
“There’s no progress,” said Gary Kinard, Tyren’s father. “They’re working on it. We’re still waiting, there’s nothing new... As much as we can be, we’re doing OK.”
North Port Police has been gathering evidence, initially searching for Kinard’s vehicle and tracing his steps over the day leading up to his death.
“It is something being worked on every single day,” North Port Police Department spokesperson Josh Taylor said.
But the case for 20-year-old Kinard is a more difficult one for the police: he also identified as Londonn Moore.
“Those we have talked with who were close to him — parents and close friends — in the general, referred to him as a he,” Taylor said. “Obviously, we can’t speak for everyone who may have had an interaction with him... If we don’t know their preference, their families tell us, ‘This was their preference.’ What else are we going to do?”
Kinard had a following on social media under the name Londonn Moore and identified on it as female. Kinard also presented as female at a job at PGT, according to officials.
Kinard’s family says they knew of his sexuality, but say he was not transgender.
The Sun’s standard is to discuss people by their chosen pronoun and gender, but is unable to establish a clear distinction in this instance.
But how Kinard identified himself is not a main issue for police. What is more complicating is Kinard’s traveling in the days leading up to his death. He was known to be in Tampa before his death and Fort Myers the day he was killed.
“I think what makes this difficult is how social our victim was,” Taylor said. “Whether they had any sexual preference or orientation, I think we have someone who’s this active and with anyone who’s meeting people all the time, all over the place, it would be the same amount of difficulty.”
So now, officers have expanded their net. They have asked business owners along roads in the area of Kinard’s death for surveillance footage in case his car can be seen driving by. Three weeks after Kinard’s death, Peace River K-9 went back out to the scene to “do due diligence” and ensure no evidence was missed in the area.
Officials are still waiting on the initial evidence that was sent out to Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s forensic unit a few days after the homicide. Because North Port cannot process their own evidence, it is sent off to the state. However, wait times can vary for results.
“We’re getting closer to getting back the DNA and forensic evidence; it should be getting back any day,” Taylor said. “I’m hopeful the DNA and forensic stuff will be a major factor in the case.”
North Port Police also reached out to some social media sites to receive cyber forensics of past conversations Kinard had.
“We’re waiting for compliance on social media platform; we’ve made requests for communications he would’ve had on the days leading up to his death,” Taylor said. “He was known to be on a lot of sites, so we’re looking into those. It’s one of those situations where if there’s a stone, we will turn it over.”
LGBTQ crimes are a rarity for North Port.
“We’re thankful North Port is overall a very safe community and it’s certainly a community that would not tolerate crimes against certain sections of society,” Taylor said. “It’s not something we run into a lot, on any level: whether it’s race, religion, sexual orientation or preference.”
However, crimes against the LGBTQ community are becoming more commonplace across Florida.
Jimmy Midyette, an attorney with ACLU Florida, said despite successes such as legalizing gay marriage, the transgender community in particular has seen an increase in violence.
“It’s interesting, I’ve seen it increase in violence and discrimination,” Midyette said. “The increase is mostly directed toward younger people in the community and others who were marginalized, like trans- and non-gender conforming people. It’s an inverse proportionate to the gains we made; we got marriage equality but then there’s a backlash against people who are vulnerable.”
Midyette pointed to Jacksonville specifically, where there have been three transgender women killed in 2018 alone. Following backlash from the community on how Jacksonville Police were handling the cases, an LGBTQ liaison team was put in place.
“We now have a huge rash of crime and murder taking place in this part of the state and it’s a big concern,” he said. “JSO have met with the community tried to dissuade fears, establish an LGBTQ liaison team to be more visible, to talk to the community and they’re learning some of the language.”
He added he believes other departments should follow Jacksonville’s lead.
“I think it makes a lot of sense,” Midyette said. “Generally more things for LGBT people would be great, but it’s not that for me; it’s more of a cultural competence. For police to protect a community, they have to understand that community.”
While North Port does not have a team, Kinard’s case spurred them to look into new operating procedures when it comes to interactions with the transgender community. They have a draft policy in place and are using that, which is based off the St. Petersburg Police Department’s own LGBTQ policy.
“As we grow and develop, we create all sorts of task force and policies,” Taylor said. “If we get to the point where it’s necessary (to create an LGBTQ team), we would take those steps. We certainly respect the LGBTQ community and we’re always learning and developing.”
The policy includes procedures for addressing individuals, reporting incidents and LGBTQ definitions including transgender male, female and transgender identity.
Kinard’s father, Gary, said he appreciated what the police were doing and added they know answers will take time to gather.
“We’re just letting them handle it,” he said.
Taylor said with this specific case, it is important to exhibit patience as Kinard’s family has done.
“I would just say the investigation is far from from a cold case,” he said. “You see a lot of television shows where it’s solved overnight and we’ve had a really good track record to piece things quickly (in past cases). But because of how social our victim was, it made it a little challenging. All those things are rocks we have to overturn and thankfully we haven’t run out of rocks yet.”
www.yoursun.com/news/unsolved-but-not-cold---month-after-killing-of/article_a5d63866-cd69-11e8-a9c2-2b4d22ef7f65.html
Thoughts? Regardless of the motive, there needs to be justice. As of this posting date, Tyren aka Londonn's case is still listed as an unsolved crime on Sarasota Crime Stoppers: www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com/sitemenu.aspx?P=unsolved&ID=109 (scroll down for case)
Admin Note #1: According to Sarasota Crime Stoppers, anyone with information on this case should call them at 941-366-TIPS or online at www.sarasotacrimestoppers.com. Reference NPPD case number 2018-09-0407
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form