An arrest has been made in the beating death of a transgender woman, according to the victim's mother.
Delores Nettles told DNA Info on Tuesday that prosecutors have informed her of an arrest in the 2013 killing of her daughter, 21-year-old Islan Nettles.
"I'm overwhelmed," Nettles said. "I still want to know the facts, but it's been a long time coming."
The New York Daily News reports that the suspect is 21-year-old James Dixon.
He was charged with manslaughter and assault.
On Aug. 17, 2013, Nettles was walking with friends in the early morning near her home in Harlem when they ran into a group of young men outside a police precinct. A fight ensued, and Nettles, who was knocked to the ground and beaten by one of the young men, slipped into a coma. A few days later, she died.
Police initially charged Paris Wilson, 20, with misdemeanor assault. Nettles' friends and family were upset that the charge had not been homicide.
Then another man came forward and confessed to the beating, but said he was too drunk to remember any of the details. That man was not charged. Charges were also dropped against Wilson, according to the New York Daily News.
The News now reports that the previously unidentified man was Dixon.
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