DALLAS — A 23-year-old transgender woman whose beating in front of a crowd was captured on video has been found dead on a Dallas street, police said.

Muhlaysia Booker was found face-down early Saturday after officers were called following reports of shots being fired. She was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

Booker died from “homicidal violence,” said police Maj. Vincent Weddington. He did not elaborate. No suspect has been identified.

Weddington said there’s no evidence indicating a link between the shooting and the April 12 beating Booker suffered after she was involved in a minor traffic accident . A police affidavit released at the time said Booker accidentally backed into a vehicle before the driver of that vehicle pointed a gun at her and refused to let her leave unless she paid for the damage.

 

Bond set for man charged
with abducting Texas girl

FORT WORTH — Bond has been set at $100,000 for a Texas man accused of abducting an 8-year-old girl as she walked with her mother in Fort Worth over the weekend.

Michael Webb was being held in the Tarrant County jail Monday. The 51-year-old is charged with aggravated kidnapping.

Police say the girl was walking through a leafy neighborhood with her mother Saturday evening when Webb pulled up in his car and grabbed her. Officers later found Webb and the girl at the hotel after witnesses reported seeing the car there.

A spokeswoman for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office says Webb has not been indicted and the case is pending.

Jail records did not list an attorney for Webb.

 

‘Chick-fil-A’ bill blasted
by lawmakers advances

AUSTIN — A bill pushed by Texas Republicans after the city of San Antonio blocked a proposed Chick-fil-A airport location had advanced over sometimes tearful opposition from LGBT lawmakers.

Monday’s key vote in the Texas House reignited tensions over what Republicans call religious freedom issues with just one week before the GOP-controlled Legislature is set to adjourn until 2021.

In March, the San Antonio City Council voted to deny Chick-fil-A an airport location over the fast-food chain owners’ record on LGBT issues.

Republican lawmakers responded with a measure that would ban local governments from taking “adverse action” against an individual or business based on affiliations or contributions to a religious organization.

Democrats say the bill invites discrimination. The measure needs one more Senate vote before moving to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

 

Fort Worth fires police chief

FORT WORTH — Fort Worth has fired its police chief.

City Manager David Cooke announced that Joel Fitzgerald was removed from the job Monday. Cooke says the firing was motivated by several factors, including a recent “incident” in Washington, D.C. that brought Fitzgerald’s “judgment and leadership” into question.

Fitzgerald confirmed his abrupt ouster, telling the Fort Worth Star-Telegram : “I’m fired.” Cooke says the chief was offered the chance to resign.

The president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association, Manny Ramirez, says officers are “looking forward to the next era of leadership.”

Cooke says Executive Assistant Chief Edwin Kraus will lead the department in Texas’ fifth most populous city until a new chief is hired. He says there is no timeline for making for filling the job.

 

See also: TEXAS ROUNDUP: Police shoot woman during standoff