Four second-degree murder suspects found in San Diego

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) — Two men and two woman wanted on second-degree murder charges in the alleged beating and killing of a transgender man in Vermont last month were arrested in San Diego Thursday night and were awaiting extradition Friday.

Erik Averill, 21, Jordan Nathaniel Paul, 21, Myia Barber, 23, and Allison Elizabeth Gee, 24, were arrested around 7 p.m. Thursday in Ocean Beach for their alleged roles in an attack that killed Amos Beede, according to police in San Diego and Burlington, Vermont.

The 38-year-old victim was beaten at a homeless encampment on May 22. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for head trauma, facial fractures, a subdural hematoma and broken ribs, and died Sunday from “complications from blunt force trauma to his brain,” according to a statement from the Burlington Police Department.

Averill and Barber, both transients, were initially named “persons of interest in the case” and arrest warrants were later issued for them, Paul and Gee.

“Burlington Police detectives have developed probable cause to believe that four individuals, two men and two women, acted in concert to assault Amos Beede on May 22nd, 2016, resulting in his death on May 29th,” according to the Burlington Police Department statement.

Burlington police contacted San Diego police Thursday evening to
help locate the four suspects, San Diego police Lt. Ray Valentin said.

The suspected motive was not immediately released, but investigators do not believe Beede’s slaying was related to his gender identity, according to the Associated Press.