North Charleston man turns himself in for shooting transgender woman Denali Berries Stuckey
Dominick Archield is accused of shooting Stuckey, a former neighbor, on July 20
A North Charleston man was denied bail after turning himself into police for the shooting of transgender woman Denali Berries Stuckey, who was found dead by the side of a road in North Charleston on July 20.
Dominick Archield, 34, turned himself in on Sunday after a warrant was issued for his arrest in relation to Stuckey’s killing. On Monday, a judge ordered Archield held without bail, leaving him in the custody of the Charleston County jail while he awaits trial.
He faces one charge of murder and one charge of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
According to an affidavit, Archield’s car was parked down the street from the Lovey Dovey Club on Carner Avenue on July 20.
As Stuckey walked toward the club, Archield allegedly got out of a 2013 White Dodge Charger and shot her multiple times “without warning or provocation” before driving off, reports Charleston CBS affiliate WCSC.
Investigators say Stuckey was shot multiple times in the face and upper torso.
Police also claim Archield told investigators that he had been neighbors with Stuckey at one point and knew her.
Stuckey’s murder has not been classified as a hate crime. Even were it to be classified as such, the only bias enhancements, such as stiffer penalties or additional jail time, that could be brought would be under federal law, as South Carolina’s hate crimes law does not cover crimes committed against people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Scott Deckard, the deputy chief of the North Charleston Police Department, previously told The Post and Courier that if the investigation revealed that the crime was motivated by hate or bias, “appropriate steps will be taken to ensure the case is prosecuted as such.”
Stuckey is the third of four transgender women to be killed in South Carolina this year. More recently, the body of Pebbles LaDime Doe was found shot and slumped over the steering wheel of her car in rural Allendale County, just a little over two weeks after Stuckey’s murder.
Chase Glenn, the executive director of the Alliance for Full Acceptance, a Charleston-based LGBTQ advocacy organization, said that the two deaths of Stuckey and Doe should be a wake-up call to the transgender community.
“We are sounding the alarm,” Glenn told the Post and Courier. “We are in an absolute state of emergency for black transgender women.”
Read more:
A transgender man was suspended from a Christian college for having top surgery
Police release photos and video of teens suspected in attack on D.C. transgender woman
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