Man convicted in 2020 West Philadelphia murder of transgender woman Mia Green
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Philadelphia jury has found a 39-year-old man guilty of third-degree murder in the deadly shooting of a transgender woman in September 2020. Abdullah I. El-Amin was convicted on Monday after a six-day trial.
Tracy "Mia" Green, 29, was shot and killed inside of a car on Sept. 28, 2020, in West Philadelphia.
"Everyone would knew Mia was in the room," Tatyana Woodward, Green's friend, said. "She had a smile that would light up the room."
Prosecutors say El-Amin was the driver of the car when he fatally shot Green several times.
Green's murder was among a record number of killings in the trans community.
"The amount of violence, gun violence, you know violence, that's happening toward trans women is at an alarming rate that at some point, you just get numb to it all," Woodward said.
Woodard knew Green for about 10 years and their friendship grew while attending community events.
She says she was the one who broke the news to Green's mother.
"Having to tell someone that their child was gone and murdered, I still can hear the tone in her mother's voice change," Woodard said.
"Too often, violence against LGBTQ+ people, and Black trans women like Mia Green, in particular, happens in the shadows because of societal marginalization," Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said. "I'm gratified that the Philadelphia criminal legal system increasingly reflects Philadelphians' values of inclusion and our city's abhorrence of discrimination and bigotry."
Woodard says the conviction helps begin the healing process.
"Justice for Mia is also justice that this doesn't happen again," Woodward said.
El-Amin was also convicted of possession of an instrument of crime. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 4.