Houston trial begins in slaying of midtown transgender woman, friend

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A Galena Park man accused in the high-profile shooting of a transgender woman and the stabbing of a man in Midtown in April 2016 is expected to continue trial Tuesday with testimony from witnesses of the crime.

Tariq Lackings, 32, faces life in prison if convicted of murder in the fatal shooting of Shante Thompson, 34.

Willie Sims, 33, was also stabbed to death. Lackings was originally charged with capital murder for both deaths, but prosecutors later reduced the case to murder, for just the death of Thompson in the midtown melee.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene after being assaulted at 1100 Dennis Street about 11:15 p.m. on April 10, 2016, according to a release from the Houston Police Department.

Lackings is being defended by Houston attorney Paul Morgan, who declined to comment on the trial.

According to police, witnesses said a half-dozen people approached Thompson and Sims that night. Witnesses said Lackings apparently pulled a gun and fired at Thompson, hitting Sims instead as he tried to pull the transgender woman from harm’s way, police said.

Then, according to a witness, the attackers pulled out metal pipes and began to beat Sims and Thompson, who is identified in court records as Robert Isaac. The deadly assault led to concerns about a possible hate crime from LGBT advocates when the arrest went public.

Hate crime charges are rare in Texas, because the additional legal burden of proving a hate crime for a first-degree felony does not increase the possible range of punishment.

But the incident more likely emerged from a love triangle or some other sort of relationship, friends and family of Isaac have said. They told police the slaying stemmed from a dispute between Isaac and one of her attackers, another transgender woman, over a man.

Lackings, who remains in the Harris County jail on a $250,000, is being tried in visiting state District Judge Reagan Clark’s court. A jury was selected Friday and several witnesses testified Monday.