Denzell Thomas

A 22-year-old man has been indicted in the separate shootings of two transgender women, one of whom died.

A Jefferson County grand jury issue the indictments against Denzell Latrell Thomas on May 5, and those indictments were made public this week. He is charged with murder in the Sept. 23, 2016 shooting death of 30-year-old Hason Amin Alford and attempted murder in the Oct. 3, 2016 shooting of another victim at a Fifth Avenue South home. Thomas has been held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail since his arrest last year.

Thomas is charged with murder in the Sept. 23, 2016 death of Hason Amin Alford. Housekeeping at the Kings Inn on Third Avenue North made the discovery in a second-floor room. Alford, of North Carolina, had been shot multiple times, according to family members. She was found lying naked on the floor of the room and pronounced dead on the scene. Officers were told that gunshots could be heard at the location prior to officers' arrival to the scene.

Alford's sister Toya Milan, said her sister was native of High Point, N.C. who transitioned five years ago, and later helped her with her own transition. "She was very educated and very beautiful,'' Milan said.

She graduated from college in Florida and worked as a call center representative for an airline company, but also advertised as an escort on backpage.com. Milan believes that may have been what led to her sister's death. "A lot of men know transgender women escort and think that we're going to have money,'' Milan said. "They make a lot of money and they figure that out and they try to rob us."

Milan said Alford was on her way to Atlanta to visit her when the radiator on her car blew. "She was stuck in Birmingham,'' Milan said.

When family couldn't reach Alford, they began calling the motel and it took hours for them to get the news of the fatal shooting. "When I first heard the news, I couldn't even cry,'' Milan said. "I didn't have any emotion. I just couldn't believe it."

Thomas is also charged with attempted murder and first-degree robbery in a shooting in 7500 block of Fifth Avenue South. The victim was shot in the face and rushed to UAB Hospital, but survived.