Transgender woman found dead in Cleveland parking lot

Cleveland police are investigating the Saturday killing of Skye Mockabee, a 26-year-old transgender woman who was found dead early Monday in a parking lot on Cleveland's West Side.

(Cory Shaffer, cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The person found dead in a Cleveland parking lot early Saturday morning has been identified as a transgender woman.

The owner of Ecclesiastic Granite Fab found Skye Mockabee, 26, dead about 8 a.m. in the parking lot his business on West 130th Street in the city's Puritas-Longmead neighborhood.

Mockabee was lying face down next to a tow truck. She was bleeding from the mouth, according to a police report.

Cleveland EMS and firefighters got to the scene and said Mockabee's injuries were suspicious. She was pronounced dead about 8:30 a.m., the report says.

Cleveland police originally identified the victim as a man. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office on Monday identified Mockabee by her birth name.

Police have released few details about her death, including a motive for the killing. Police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said there was no further information to release.

Mockabee is the fourth transgender woman killed in Cuyahoga County in as many years. Though police have not confirmed if investigators believe her gender identity played a role in her killing, Mockabee's death is a reminder for the LGBT community of the dangers they can face.

Brittany Stergis, 22, was shot dead in December 2013 inside her car at the Lakeview Estates apartments on West 25th Street. A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge sentenced 20-year-old Delshawn Carroll to 18 years to life after he admitted to the killing.

Betty Skinner, a 52-year-old disabled resident of a senior apartment complex in Cleveland's Old Brooklyn neighborhood, was found dead in her bed of an apparent homicide. She had head injuries.

Those deaths happened less than a year after 20-year-old Cemia "Ce Ce" Dove was killed in an apartment in Olmsted Township. Cuyahoga County prosecutors said Andrey Bridges thought he had arranged a date with a woman when Dove arrived.

Prosecutors said Bridges became enraged when he discovered Dove was transgender. He stabbed Dove 40 times, then threw her body into a pond.

Mockabee's death also comes a month after the city of Cleveland passed legislation that allows transgender people to use whichever restroom, shower or locker room aligns with their gender identity, without fear of discrimination.

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