'It hit the panic alarm': Trans teen's killing in Pennsylvania shocks LGBTQ+ community

SHARON, Pa. — A Pennsylvania community is mourning the death of a transgender teenager whose remains were found dismembered in the area of Shenango River Lake, near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, late last month.

Pennsylvania State Police have charged DaShawn Watkins, 29, with first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, aggravated assault, and tampering with evidence in the death of 14-year-old Pauly A. Likens Jr. Police said Pauly, a transgender female, was killed on June 23.

Authorities accused Watkins of killing Pauly after the two met via Grindr, a popular LGBTQ dating app, according to arrest records. Pauly was reported missing on June 25 and was last seen near a canoe launch in downtown Sharon three days earlier.

Pauly's cut-up remains were found scattered around the area of Shenango River Lake in Mercer County starting on June 25. Police used cellphone records, surveillance video, and blood found in Watkins' apartment to charge him, according to the arrest records.

LGBTQ activists and community members in Mercer County have called for the incident to be prosecuted as a hate crime. Mercer County District Attorney Peter Acker said hate crime charges are not being pursued because Watkins is openly gay and Pauly was transitioning.

At the Shenango Valley LGBTQIA+ Alliance, president Pam Ladner reflected on Pauly's death as she planned for a vigil and answered questions. Ladner told the Erie Times-News, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the death "has impacted our entire community."

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro expressed support for the Likens family on Tuesday and advocated for state laws "to treat hate-based crimes against LGBTQ+ folks the same way other hate crimes are treated."

"The First Lady and I are thinking of Pauly Likens' friends, family, and our entire LGBTQ+ community right now," Shapiro said on X. "(The Pennsylvania State Police's) investigation is ongoing and her horrific murder must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

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Pauly's death has generated a flood of support for her family and the Shenango Valley LGBTQIA+ Alliance, according to Ladner.

"We have a lot of people who are stepping up and showing support to make sure she gets the recognition and the justice that she should get," Ladner said.

Ladner said the alliance was not familiar with Pauly before the killing, but she said she spoke to Pauly's family after the death to offer help. The family gave the alliance permission to identify Pauly as a transgender female who used she/her pronouns, Ladner said. The family could not be immediately reached for comment.

Ladner said LGBTQ+ organizations in Erie, to the north of Mercer County, and Pittsburgh, to the south, are among the groups that have connected with the Shenango Valley LGBTQIA+ Alliance to show solidarity and offer aid as it organizes efforts to remember Pauly.

The alliance, founded three years ago, had recently established a more permanent presence to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in Mercer County when the group moved into its own office space in Sharon on June 1 — at the start of Pride month.

"I think it hit the panic alarm," Ladner said of Pauly's death. "For something like this to happen, just as we are getting started, is devastating."

The alliance has scheduled a candlelight vigil to honor Pauly on July 13 at the alliance's office.

"Let's lift up our community in this tragic time and let Pauly's family know we (are) behind them and with them in their mourning," the alliance said of the event on its Facebook page, which is also for the Shenango Valley Pride Picnic.

"The outpouring our community is receiving for Pauly and her family is immense," another post said. "Thank you to every person who has reached out to help or share information we are all grateful."

Others set up a GoFundMe account to help Pauly's family. It had raised nearly $24,000 as of Tuesday evening.

Report of missing person launches homicide probe

Watkins is being held at the Mercer County Prison without bond because he is charged with first-degree murder, a premeditated killing. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 17.

The investigation into Pauly's disappearance and murder started on June 25, when the 14-year-old's father reported to Sharon police that he had not seen Pauly since June 22, according to the affidavit of probable cause attached to the criminal complaint for Watkins.

Also on June 25, police in Hermitage, near Sharon, found human remains in the area of Shenango River Lake, according to an affidavit. The remains were found fully and partially in the water, and more remains were discovered throughout the week.

The Mercer County Coroner's Office identified the remains as those of Pauly. The office ruled the cause of death a homicide due to "sharp force trauma to the head." Police in the affidavit said the dismemberment was done "by some type of cutting instrument."

Police constructed a timeline using video surveillance from businesses, residences, and cellphone records. Investigators determined that, before Pauly's cellphone went inactive during the early morning of June 23, Pauly was last known to be at the canoe launch for the Shenango River in Sharon, according to the affidavit.

Police used video surveillance video to discover that a car was at the canoe launch at the same time before driving to an apartment complex, just north of the canoe launch, according to the affidavit.

Surveillance video footage from the apartment complex showed a man, later identified as Watkins, leaving the complex with an empty duffel bag and returning with a heavy duffel bag about 25 minutes later early on the morning of June 23, according to the affidavit. The evidence, police said in the affidavit, "indicates that Watkins took this duffle bag with him to make initial contact with the victim."

On June 23 and in the early morning of June 24, Watkins is seen on video leaving and returning to the apartment complex "carrying multiple bags and garbage bags," according to the affidavit. Watkins, according to the affidavit, is also seen trying to clean blood in the hallway of the apartment complex, where he had first placed the heavy duffle bag.

Police: Defendant says he used Grindr to meet someone

State police interviewed Watkins on July 1. According to the affidavit, Watkins told police "that recently, on a weekend, he had used the Grindr App to arrange a meet-up with an individual. The individual was to be previously unknown to Watkins and was described to match the likeness of the victim."

Watkins, according to the affidavit, told police "that he had sexual contact' with the person at a spot to which he had driven and the other person had walked. Police said Watkins denied being at the canoe launch, but "later advised that it was possible his vehicle pulled into the canoe launch but advised that his memory was poor, he had issues with it," according to the affidavit.

Police in the affidavit said Watkins denied bringing the person he met to his apartment, and that Watkins said he brought an empty bag into his apartment only because it was left in his car from a vacation a month ago.

Police said they saw two cuts on Watkins' hand for which he had received stitches. Police said Watkins told them that he "cut his hand on a piece of sheet metal while searching for reptiles," according to the affidavit.

Police searched Watkins' apartment. They found blood in the bathroom and under the bathroom floor, according to the affidavit. It also states: "A receipt from 6/23/24 was found to indicate the purchase of a saw. A saw with exchangeable blades, which was consistent with listed saw on the receipt, was recovered at the scene. One of the exchangeable blades for this saw was missing."

Contributing: Jim Martin, Erie Times-News; J. Staas Haught, USA TODAY Network; Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY

Contact Ed Palattella at [email protected]. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.