It has been three years since Stacey Blahnik was murdered in her home and justice remains elusive for the local trans leader.
Blahnik was found murdered in her home in the 1800 block of Manton Street in South Philadelphia Oct. 11, 2010. She had been strangled to death.
Blahnik was the overall house mother for ballroom organization House of Blahnik.
Police identified a person of interest in the case six months after the murder, and an investigator said this week that that individual is still being looked at.
“We have an idea of who we’re looking at,” said Lt. Mark Deegan of the Homicide Department.
Deegan said detectives are reprocessing evidence for DNA in another attempt to connect the person of interest to the crime.
“One of the developments is we’ve been trying to get some new DNA stuff,” he said. “A lot of it was done already but we’ve had some people go back over it. We may have some other things we need to have tested to rule some people out. What we’re trying to do is hook up DNA with the person of interest, and we’ll really have something to talk about.”
Blahnik’s body was discovered by her partner, Malik Moorer.
Moorer told PGN this week that he is committed to seeking justice for Blahnik.
“I’m going to keep fighting until we get some attention,” he said. “I want to try to find justice for Stacey and also fight for trans rights as much as I can. I’m embracing it and want to keep on going to get justice.”
Moorer, along with Blahnik’s friends and supporters, will hold a candlelight vigil to mark the anniversary at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at the William Way LGBT Community Center.