Boyfriend of Taya Ashton Murdered Her After Learning of Her Trans Identity

Taya Ashton was fatally shot in 2021

A man who pleaded guilty to murdering his girlfriend after learning she was transgender will spend close to 50 years in prison, according to multiple reports.

Taya Ashton, 20, was shot and killed in her Maryland apartment in July 2021 by DeAllen Price, 29, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and use of a firearm in a commission of a crime of violence, the Prince George’s State’s Attorney’s Office said during a press conference, originally reported by DC News Now, WUSA and WTOP.

Price was sentenced to 60 years in prison, with 12 years suspended, meaning he will spend the next 48 years in prison, according to the reports.

Prosecutors said Price and Ashton were in a relationship, and that he shot her after learning she was transgender.

“[Price] told the court that he was engaged in an intimate relationship with Taya and that that evening was when he first learned" about her trans identity, Assistant State’s Attorney Sherrie Waldrup said, according to DC News Now.

After that, Waldrup said Price shot Ashton.

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Waldrup reportedly called the admission “chilling.”

Shortly after the death of Ashton, the Human Rights Campaign released a statement.

"Taya was just at the beginning of her life — a life that she deserved to live to its fullest," HRC Associate Director of the Transgender Justice Initiative Lindsey Clark said. "Black transgender women continue to be killed in this country, and this violence is unacceptable. Everyone, from friends and family to community organizers and allies, needs to speak out with urgency. We must end the stigma and violence that all transgender and gender non-conforming people face."

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