Witnesses positively identified a suspect at a rescheduled court hearing Wednesday in a case involving robberies of transgender women.
Miayanna Brooks, Aly Damian and Saleem Singleton identified Matthew White as the suspect who allegedly robbed them on Jan. 8, while Vivian Royster testified about White allegedly robbing her and murdering her boyfriend, Barry Jones, the following night.
The three roommates
According to matching testimonies from Brooks, Damian and Singleton, the three roommates were in their home on the 1300 block of North 52nd Street watching a movie in Damian’s room. Singleton left the room and closed the door.
“Guys that mess with transsexuals usually want their privacy,” Brooks said in court, noting that Singleton, a sex worker, was expecting a client.
Singleton testified that White was outside of the kitchen window screaming for Damian, from whom he previously requested sex acts in exchange for money. She said White then entered the home with a gun pointed at her head demanding money. After White learned that Singleton did not have money in her own room, he allegedly gestured her toward Damian’s room, where the other two roommates were still located.
“Don’t you f*cking yell,” Singleton testified White had told her.
All three women corroborated that Singleton cracked open the door, with White’s gun to her head, and asked her two roommates for money. Damian noticed the gun pointing at Singleton’s head before White entered the room.
“You don’t want this to be a crime scene,” White said, according to Brooks. “Give me the money.”
The three witnesses said White stole cash and cellphones from them. White then left the premises and Brooks followed to ensure the suspect would not return. Brooks said she called the defendant a “pussy” as he ran away. White then fired a shot at Brooks, which was confirmed via surveillance footage presented at the hearing.
“He looked scared and inexperienced, like he didn’t know what he was doing,” Damian said on the stand.
Damian said she met White previously to provide services to him after he responded to her ad on classifieds-advertising website Backpage. She said she did not know White’s name prior to the Jan. 8 incident and noted that White wanted to be “more” than a client but she was not interested.
“He said I was beautiful and he wouldn’t hurt me,” Damian said, saying that White was willing to show her mercy during the robbery.
Damian added that the three women did not discuss clients with each other.
“Most of the times, they will give you a nickname,” Damian said of her clients.
White’s attorney, Timothy J. Tarpey, asked Damian why the roommates did not talk with each other before Judge James M. DeLeon intervened.
“What [the other women] do has nothing to do with her as a witness,” he said.
Singleton said she received White’s phone number from Damian and entered the number into Facebook so she could provide investigators with a photo of the suspect.
Vivian Royster
On Jan. 9, Royster said she was home on the 5400 block of Girard Avenue with her aunt and boyfriend Jones. She was expecting White, whom she met six months previously but did not provide services, that night and noted that her boyfriend was giving her privacy.
Royster said she never kept her sex work a secret from Jones.
Royster testified that, when White entered the house, he asked if there were any men in the residence.
“I tell everyone there’s no men in the house just in case a situation like this happens,” Royster said.
Royster said White pulled out a black and silver gun in her bedroom and said, “You know what this is.”
Royster said that Jones, who sensed a disturbance, entered the bedroom and tried to fight White.
“[White] shot [Jones] twice in the face,” Royster said through tears.
“He loved me,” Royster added, speaking to White from the stand. “Why would you do that? He has a 4-year-old daughter and a mother and a sister.”
According to Royster, White robbed her of cash and a cellphone and shot Royster in the shoulder area. Royster’s aunt called police.
Next steps
White is being held for court on all charges and has a formal arraignment scheduled for 11 a.m. March 22 at the Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert St.
Assistant District Attorney Danielle Burkavage, who is prosecuting the case, noted how all of the women were “strong” and “supportive of each other” at the hearing.
After the hearing, Brooks told PGN that “justice” for the four women and for Jones’ mother was more important than getting money or phones back.
“This is important especially for all of those who don’t come forward and who are in these types of situations,” Brooks said. “It’s important that this man goes away so that others will feel OK to come forward and say what they have to say.”