JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man was arraigned Tuesday on felony charges in the murder of a transgender woman who was found shot dead inside a hotel room last year.
Sean Bernard Phoenix, 22, pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder and evidence tampering in the February 2018 shooting death of 36-year-old Erika Walker, court records show.
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Walker is one of three transgender women killed in Jacksonville last year, and her killing marks the first of those cases to lead to an arrest.
Phoenix was in jail on an unrelated charge at the time of his Sept. 24 arrest.
Officers sent to the Skinner Lake Drive location of Extended Stay America on Feb. 4, 2018, found the Walker's naked body inside a hotel room, the Sheriff’s Office said. She was shot multiple times.
Investigators collected multiple shell casings and DNA evidence from the hotel room. Police said lab testing linked DNA found at the scene back to Phoenix, who had a relationship with Walker.
Phoenix was originally arrested and charged with shooting deadly missiles Aug. 29 in connection with shots fired April 2 into an apartment along Cleveland Road.
On Sept. 24, detectives brought Phoenix in for questioning in Walker’s killing. During that interview, police said, he admitted shooting Walker and later selling the murder weapon.
Phoenix is being held without bail at the Duval County jail while he awaits trial in the murder. He’s scheduled to appear in court Dec. 2 for a pretrial hearing.