Philippine prosecutors have charged a U.S. Marine for killing a transgender woman in an alleged hate crime.
Pfc. Joseph Scott Pemberton allegedly strangled and drowned Jennifer Laude in the toilet bowl of a motel room northwest of Manila, prosecutors said according to the Associated Press. The October murder allegedly took place after the 19-year-old marine found out Laude, formerly named Jeffery, was transgender.
"It's murder," prosecutor Emilie de los Santos said in court when Pemberton was charged Monday, the AP reported. "It was aggravated by treachery, abuse of superior strength and cruelty."
Pemberton, a former boxer, encountered the victim while he and a few of his colleagues went out drinking in Olongapo City on Oct. 11, according to statements collected by prosecutors. The marines later checked into nearby motels with women they met at a disco bar, including Pemberton and Laude, witnesses said according to the AP.
Witnesses also said they saw Pemberton leave the motel room before Laude's body was discovered. He allegedly attacked the victim after she removed her clothes.
After Pemberton returned to his assigned ship, he confessed to the crime by saying, "I think I killed a he/she" to his colleague Marine Lance Corporal Jairn Michael Rose, prosecutors said. He also allegedly said he used his arm to choke her from behind "for a couple of minutes." When she stopped moving, he dragged her into the bathroom, prosecutors said.
Laude was found naked with her head in the toilet on Oct. 12, CNN reported.
Shortly after Laude's death, Pemberton was detained on a U.S. warship and later moved to a Manila camp belonging to Philippine's military, the AP reported. Laude's family, however, has called for the suspect to be moved to a regular jail.
"We will not accept anything less than justice," Marilou Laude, Jennifer's sister, said according to CNN.
The Philippine government also said it looks "forward to the full cooperation of the U.S. government in ensuring that justice is secured for Laude."
