A man arrested and charged in 2021 with the murder of 20-year old Taya Ashton will serve nearly five decades in prison, after being sentenced for the crime on Wednesday.
That man, DeAllen Price, was sentenced to 60 years in prison with all but 48 years suspended, for the shooting death of Ashton, a transgender woman.
Ashton was found shot to death in her apartment in the 2300 block of Brooks Drive in Suitland on July 17, 2021, Prince George's County police said at the time.
Price and Ashton were known to each other, according to police, and "had an intimate relationship with each other," according to Prince George's County State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy.
"An argument ensued during one of their meetings," Braveboy said in a press conference on Wednesday about Price's sentencing.
One day after Ashton was found in her apartment, Arlington County police arrested Price, of District Heights, for running from officers and going on the Metro tracks at the Pentagon City station, police said. Yellow and Blue line service was suspended for a time the afternoon of July 18 after the incident.
Metro Transit Police and a K9 officer searched the tracks and found a weapon they later linked to Ashton's murder, police said.
"Taya’s death was a real tragedy for our community as well as for her family," Braveboy said during the press conference. "But her death represents so much more in terms of our level of tolerance in our community for people who want to express themselves, and live their lives on their own terms."
"Anyone who choses to do that should be respected," Braveboy continued. "Their lives are as valuable as anyone else’s life. That’s what we do know, and as an office that’s what we advocate for.”
According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 32 transgender or gender nonconforming people were killed by violence in 2023. Transgender people are also more likely to experience sexual abuse and assault, with the U.S. Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crimes estimating that one in two transgender people are sexually abused or assaulted at some point in their lives.
