“The LGBTQIA community in this city are being harassed, intimidated, bullied and even now murdered,” Cedar Park Pride Secretary Kelley Holiday said at a June 8 meeting.
As a part of the broader effort to raise awareness about this issue, the community will be holding a memorial service followed by a vigil for Ross on July 2 at Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church at 6:30 p.m. Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin and Equality Texas CEO Ricardo Martinez will be among those speaking at the event.
What happened
Ross, a 24-year-old woman, was shot and killed at a Circle K at 12020 N. RM 620 in Cedar Park on June 2. The suspect was arrested by officers June 4 and was charged with first-degree murder.
At the time of the shooting, Ross was with her partner and another witness who told police the suspect yelled a gay slur before shooting Ross, according to an affidavit obtained from Williamson County.
Cedar Park Police Department’s investigation is ongoing and the case is being handled by the Williamson County District Attorney’s Office.
Current situation
Holiday, a social worker and Cedar Park Pride board member, said she reached out to Ross’ family to ask if the organization could assist them in advocating that Ross’ murder be investigated as a hate crime and present the issue to City Council.
“Whether it is or not, the evidence will or won't show, but we wanted it at least looked at as [a hate crime] because we felt like it warranted that type of scrutiny,” Holiday said.
Over a dozen community members, including representatives from Cedar Park Pride and Equality Texas, asked the council to recognize Ross’ murder as a hate crime at a June 22 meeting.
“Classifying her death as a hate crime acknowledges her place in the LGBTQ community and that this senseless act of violence was not random,” said Chloe Goodman, constituent services manager for Equality Texas.
Only the Williamson County District Attorney’s office or the U.S. Department of Justice would have the authority to designate Ross’ death as a hate crime, Mayor Penniman-Morin said.
“Our police department will continue to provide them with any evidence that can be collected and will work on fully understanding the motives behind this crime,” Penniman-Morin said. “Your City Council, and your city staff and police department have your back no matter what community you’re a member of.”
A closer look
A hate crime enhancement requires proof that an individual intentionally selected a target based on certain factors, such as race or sexual orientation, said Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick.
Hate crime designations are added onto charges as an enhancement that can amplify the punishment of a crime, Dick said. In a case of murder, however, Dick said a hate crime enhancement does not affect the punishment range or the case’s legal impact.
“There really isn't a higher punishment range than murder, and so a specific enhancement doesn't do anything on that,” Dick said.
Dick said murder is the best charge the office has on the case with the information it has.
He said the office will have gathered more information to determine what charges it has evidence for when the case is presented to a grand jury, which is required within 90 days of when the charge was filed on June 8.
“Any kind of hate crime enhancement or allegation, there might be some legal reasons to put it on, and we'll have to evaluate that, but one, we do have to prove it,” Dick said.
Dick said he wasn’t aware of his office handling any hate crimes in Williamson County since he became the district attorney in 2017 but that the county did see a 28% increase in first-degree felonies in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I'm seeing a lot of divisiveness and a lot more violence amongst our community,” Dick said. “We have noticed an uptick in violent crime in Williamson County since the pandemic started.”
Going forward
While Holiday recognizes that the city cannot designate crimes as hate crimes, she said her organization has voiced their requests to council in hopes that the Cedar Park Police Department would make it a priority to look for the supporting evidence and better support the LGBTQ community.
“There was some concern from the family that Cedar Park Police Department was not even going looking for that evidence,” Holiday said about the hate crime enhancement. “We want to feel like CPPD has our back and they'll protect us.”
Her organization also requested that the city make a statement condemning the crime and supporting the LGBTQ community, create a committee to assess the quality of life for LGBTQ Cedar Park residents, hold a vigil for Ross, and that city leaders would attend a Cedar Park and Leander pride event on July 15.
“There's some undercurrents of hate in this community that we feel like the city has ignored,” Holiday said. “They just gloss over it or pretend like they don't exist, and we want them to look into it and then address it.”
