Prosecutors: Chicago Man Searched ‘How to Kill Someone with Hammer’ Before Targeting ‘Trans Girlfriend’

A Chicago man is accused of beating to death a transgender person with whom he was in a relationship.

The suspect was identified as 24-year-old Deandre Bell, who was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 31-year-old Davonta Curtis, CWB Chicago reported Tuesday. The outlet noted Curtis was a “transgender woman,” a term some use to refer to a biological male living as a female. The report said he was Bell’s “transgender girlfriend.”

The suspect was also charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle. He was ordered detained.

Prosecutors said the two were together on Easter and went to Curtis’ apartment. Bell is accused of hitting Curtis in the head with a hammer late that night, and surveillance footage shows Bell leaving the apartment building at 1:00 a.m. the following day.

Curtis’ sister was concerned when she did not hear from her sibling and went to the apartment on April 8 where she found his unclothed body partially covered with a sheet, WGN reported Monday.

Curtis’ car and car keys were not at the scene. Police eventually found the vehicle in the 2400 block of West Lake Street with the suspect in the driver’s seat.

He reportedly admitted hitting Curtis in the head with a hammer and taking his keys, phone, and money. Authorities reportedly found a tool belt with a hammer that had blood on it inside Bell’s backpack.

The CWB Chicago article stated:

A search of Bell’s phone uncovered two searches that prosecutors say were made before Curtis’ death: ‘how to kill someone with a hammer?’ and ‘if a person gets hit in the head with a hammer while sleeping what happens.’ Prosecutors did not offer a motive for the murder in their detention filing.

In another recent violent Chicago murder a 66-year-old man, Kevan Works, was charged with first-degree murder and concealment of a death in the killing of his 88-year-old mother, Fox 32 reported on Friday. The victim was identified as Daniest Graves, whose body was found April 7 inside the home they were sharing.

Fox 32 reported:

According to court documents, Graves’ body was found in the basement, hidden in a room blocked by a large bookcase. Police said she was rolled up in a large rug, partially wrapped in black garbage bags and secured with duct tape. Blankets, clothing, mail and other debris were also wrapped inside the rug with her body, according to investigators.

An autopsy found Graves suffered 17 blunt force injuries, including a large, open wound to the top of her head that exposed her skull. She also had defensive wounds and cuts to her forearm and thumb, prosecutors said.

In more Chicago violence at least 28 people were shot and one of them died over the weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) Chicago, Breitbart News reported Monday.