One of five gang members charged with murdering trans rapper Evon Young on New Year’s Day was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday in Milwaukee. Ashanti McAlister, 19, (inset) admitted to shooting Young three times.
Young, who was born Ebony Young, went by the rap nom de guerre Yung LT. The police report identified 22-year-old Young as a female.
Police said there is no evidence the murder was a hate crime. All five suspects told investigators they believed Young was a male.
According to Jsonline.com, Young’s mother first reported Young missing on Jan. 2 after Young failed to show up to work.
When police interviewed Young’s roommate, Billy Griffin, he said he saw Young get into a car outside their house near N. 52nd St. and W. Custer Avenue about 10:30 p.m. on January 1.
Griffin, 26, later confessed that he lied and admitted to his role in Young’s murder. He said four members of a street gang that he once belonged to showed up at his house on Jan. 1 and said Young could not be trusted.
The gang members — Mcalister, Victor Stewart, 27, Ron Joseph Allen, 37, and Devin Lattrez Seaberry, 23 — tried to persuade Griffin to kill Young so Griffin would be readmitted into the gang.
Griffin said the other gang members took Young into the basement where they tied a plastic bag over Young’s head and choked Young with a chain. After Young passed out, the gang members beat Young with tools.
At one point, Griffin said he couldn’t watch anymore and went back upstairs. He said he overheard the others say they wanted to make sure Young was dead. He then heard 3 gunshots.
The group then loaded the body into a car and took it to a nearby dumpster where it was set on fire. Later that day, Griffin said Stewart instructed him to tell anyone who asked that Young got into a car and never returned home. Young’s body was never found.
Two of the suspects have already been convicted and will be sentenced next month. The other two men are awaiting trial.
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