A transgender woman was attacked last month after leaving a bar in the Gayborhood.
At approximately 3 a.m. June 13, the woman, Neicy, and a friend were walking down 12th Street after leaving Uncles bar on Locust.
When the pair approached Lombard Street, they noticed a man following them, and he made contact at the corner of 12th and South streets.
“The guy walked up to me and was trying to talk to me, and I just told him I was alright, and then he just hit me,” Neicy said. “And then he was attacking me.”
Officer Tanya Little said the assailant grabbed the victim’s pocketbook during the attack and ran away with approximately $80.
Neicy was identified by male pronouns in the police report.
Police arrested 25-year-old Jovan Pressley later that day and charged him with simple assault, receiving stolen property, theft by unlawful taking and robbery with inflicting serious bodily injury.
After the attack, Neicy, who said she’d never met the suspect, contacted local trans activist Jaci Adams, who convinced her to go to Presbyterian Hospital for her injuries.
“When I first saw her before the hospital, her lip was swollen and she was in so much pain. At first we thought it was just a swollen lip, but it turned out he did more harm and damage than you could have seen,” Adams said.
The attack left Neicy with a broken jaw, and she had to have a tooth extracted and root canal.
Although the cause for the attack is unknown, Adams said it could have stemmed from Neicy’s being transgender.
“These young girls these days are really, really passable, so it could’ve been a situation that the guy didn’t know at first, but nine times out of 10, a guy in this neighborhood knew what he was dealing with and being rejected by her might have made him feel some type of way and that ended up happening,” she said.
Adams noted that the staff at the hospital was “exceptionally polite” to Neicy, as were the police from the LGBT liaison’s office.
“People’s compassion toward trans people is real, and they do really want to see a brighter day for trans people,” Adams said. “Nobody knows why she got beat up, but she didn’t deserve a broken jaw. No one does.”
Pressley, who is in prison after failing to post $350 bail, faced a preliminary hearing June 29 at the District Court at 11th and Wharton streets, which the victim and her sister attended. The Police Liaison Committee also made an effort to communicate the community’s support with the attendance of committee members Adams, Irene Benedetti and vice president Rick Lombardo.
During the hearing, an additional charge of aggravated assault was added to the charges Pressley faces, and Lombardo said the judge was respectful of the victim’s gender identity.
“I come from the days where people got ridiculed in court, but the judge addressed [her] as ma’am, so we’ve really come a long way,” he said.
The next hearing is July 20 at the Criminal Justice Center.
Pressley has been arrested three times for public drunkenness in the past two years — including two arrests since April — and also has faced charges such as harassment and disorderly conduct.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].