Police have made an arrest in the killing of Deeniquia Dodds, the 22-year-old transgender woman shot in Northeast D.C. this July.

Shareem Hall, 22, was arrested Thursday, Interim Police Chief Peter Newsham announced at a news conference.

"In all likelihood, we believe the motive in this case was robbery," he said.

Dodds, known to loved ones as Dee Dee, was shot just a few blocks from home, on the 200 block of Division Avenue NE, police said.

"Her murder reminds us all of how often the transgender community is targeted for violence in our society," LGBT activist Earline Budd previously said in a statement.

Family members worried about Dodds' safety because she worked as a prostitute, according to Joeann Lewis, who raised her.

Hall, of District Heights, Maryland, was charged with murder while armed. Hate crime charges and an enhanced penalty will be "a serious consideration," Newsham said. Hall did not know Dodds, the interim police chief said.

Newsham thanked the Metropolitan Police Department's homicide unit and witnesses who called in information. Criminals will be held accountable, he said.

"Whenever we lose a life in our city, we take it personally," Newsham said. "We want folks to know that we are going to continue to work to make sure we hold people responsible for this kind of violence on our streets."

Dodds was "a beautiful person," according to Joeann Lewis, who raised her.

"Loved to make you laugh. Loved to make you smile," she previously told News4.

Transgender people face an increased rate of violence, and more transgender people were killed in 2015 -- 21 people -- than in any other year on record, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy organization.

Five other transgender people have been killed in D.C. since August 2002, according to police records.

Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.