A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder Thursday in the death of Chynal Lindsey, one of at least four trans women who have been killed in Dallas in under four years. Ruben Alvarado was taken in for questioning Thursday to Dallas Police Department headquarters, but he refused to engage with detectives when asked about the death, police officials said in a statement.
Alvarado was booked on suspicion of murder. Police released no details of the circumstances surrounding the arrest, but the Dallas Morning News, citing an arrest warrant affidavit, reported Lindsey texted Alvarado an address in Arlington at about 10 p.m. on May 31. Just past midnight, Alvarado then called Lindsey and spoke to her for about 40 seconds. Later that day, police found Lindsey's body floating in a lake.
Her death was at the time the fourth Dallas homicide case in recent years in which the victim was a black transgender woman, sparking wide concern in the city's trans community.
In a press conference where police officials asked for the public's help in solving Lindsey's killing, a trans woman in the crowd asked Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall what was being done to protect people in the trans community.
Lindsey's death came just weeks after Muhlaysia Booker, 23, was found shot to death a few miles away. A 34-year-old man was later charged with Booker's murder, and he was initially considered a person of interest in Lindsey's death. On Thursday, police did not immediately answer questions about whether that remained the case or if there was any other connection in the women's deaths.
Two other cases remain unsolved. In October 2018, Brittany White, 29, was shot and killed. Shade Schuler, 22, was also killed by gunfire in 2015.
Dallas police have said there is no evidence suggesting a serial killer was involved. But the violence has centered on a south Dallas intersection, and trans women told BuzzFeed News they've been pushed out of the city's leading LGBT neighborhood by gentrification and continue to fear for their safety. Read more via Buzzfeed