Maplewood Homicide Victim Was Transgendered, Former CHS Student

Update: On October 21, 2010, the Essex County Prosecutor announced that two suspects had been identified in the homicide of Victoria Carmen White. A search is underway and warrants have been issued for their arrests. See the full Patch story here. Pertinent to the story below, Katherine Carter of the ECPO also revealed the reason for this mis-identification of Ms. White at the time of the homicide. Ms. Carter said, "We got the name from a family member who originally identified her as James White."

The Essex County Prosecutor's Office reported today that the victim of a fatal shooting in Maplewood on Sunday was Victoria Carmen White, formerly James White. White had legally changed her name to Victoria Carmen following sex reassignment surgery.

The Prosecutor's Office and Maplewood Police had originally identified the victim as James White. However, as stated in a release from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office this afternoon: "Following an examination by the Medical Examiner and further investigation, it has been confirmed that the victim was a post-operative transgender female having undergone sex reassignment surgery."

The Prosecutor's Office and Maplewood Police reported yesterday that White, 28, of Newark, was fatally shot at a private residence located at 159 Jacoby Street in Maplewood on Sunday morning.

Police were called to the address at 5 a.m. yesterday. White was pronounced dead at the scene, an apartment building at the corner of Jacoby Street and Boyden Avenue.

Friends and former classmates also report that White was a former Maplewood resident who attended Columbia High School where she participated in Special Dance and cheerleading. White was a member of the Class of 2001, but did not graduate at CHS.