JACKSON HEIGHTS — A transgender woman beaten outside her home early Sunday was involved in a dispute over text messages, and the attack is no longer being investigated as a hate crime, police said.
Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said while the case was originally being investigated as a hate crime, further information showed the 35-year-old victim and her attacker knew each other.
"It was not a random attack," Boyce said.
A neighbor who saw and heard the fight outside the victim's home on 93rd Street, off Roosevelt Avenue, said the pair were arguing about text messages, he said.
"Only the phone was taken," Boyce said. "We believe that phone was taken because there was text messages back and forth between the two.”
The victim, who has been recovering in Elmhurst Hospital, has been able to speak and investigators planned to visit Wednesday night for more information, police said.
A friend who visited the victim yesterday told DNAinfo she began talking on Tuesday, and was slowly recovering.
A rally was held Tuesday night by Everything Transgender NYC to show support, while Make the Road New York — whose offices are around the corner from the attack — planned a rally Thursday to condemn the attack.
Police are still searching for the suspect.
