Gaurav Gopalan | Homicide Watch DC

At Dupont Circle Vigil, Gaurav Gopalan Remembered in Shakespeare Readings

Laura Amico — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:44:10 -0400

Friends and family of Gaurav Gopalan as well as politicians and LGBT community activists gathered in Dupont Circle Sunday night for a candlelight vigil in memory of Gopalan, who was killed in Columbia Heights earlier this month.

Reports The Huffington Post:

Gaurav Gopalan once told colleagues he had hoped to host a performance of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" at Dupont Circle's fountain. Sunday night, friends and loved ones gathered there with candles to remember the slain 35-year-old local theater director by reading passages from that play, "The Tempest" and other works of the great playwright as a memorial to Gopalan, before marching to the street in Columbia Heights where he was found dead on Sept. 10.

"We need to find this killer," D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) told the crowd, saying that if the perpetrator isn't found, he or she is likely to strike again. "This has to be stopped and stopped now."

Reported Fox5,

Gopalan, was well known in the local theater community. As part of the memorial service, many of his friends read Shakespeare. Friends described Gopalan as gentle, affectionate, and brilliant. The group walked from Dupont Circle marching toward the place where Gopalan's body was found.

Said The Huffington Post,

Although D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton could not attend Sunday's memorial, her office sent a letter that was read at the vigil. It in, Norton said the recent attacks on transgender victims cannot be tolerated and that Gopalan's death "is a thundering call to action." She called on the office of the U.S. attorney to make these crimes more of a priority.

Watch video of the vigil from Fox5 below.

Candle Light Vigil Held for Murdered Man: MyFoxDC.com

Memories, Profiles of Gaurav Gopalan

Laura Amico — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:46:16 -0400

A curated collection of profiles and memories of Gaurav Gopalan is after the jump.

Gaurav Gopalan's Death in Columbia Heights Ruled a Homicide, City Paper Reports

Laura Amico — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:04:57 -0400

UPDATED at 8:30 p.m. with MPD's press release

Washington City Paper reports that Gaurav Gopalan, who was found dead in Columbia Heights and was identified at the time as a transgender woman, is believed to have been killed in a homicide.

Gopalan, who was found unconscious near his Columbia Heights home in the early hours of Sept. 10, died after suffering sub-arachnoid hemorrhage—bleeding in the space between the brain and the thin tissues that cover it—"due to blunt-impact head trauma," according to Beverly Fields, chief of staff of the D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. "The manner of death is homicide."

MPD's press release is below.

September 20, 2011

Death Ruled Homicide: 2600 Block of 11th Street, NW

(Washington, DC)-Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch announced today that the death of Gaurav Gopalan, who was found in the 2600 block of 11th Street, NW, has been ruled a homicide by a member of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of DC.

On Saturday, September 10, 2011, at approximately 5:20 am, units from the Third District responded to the 2600 block of 11th Street, NW, for the report of a man down. Upon arrival, the units discovered 35 year-old Gaurav Gopalan of Northwest, Washington, DC unconscious and unresponsive. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel transported the decedent to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099 or 1-888-919-CRIME (1-888-919-2746).

The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons wanted from any homicide committed in the District of Columbia.

Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to DC CRIME SOLVERS at 1-800-673-2777 and to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411. If the information provided by the caller to the Crime Solvers Unit leads to an arrest and indictment, that caller will be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Comment of the Day: "I feel badly that I could not have done something to stop this"

Laura Amico — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 17:49:56 -0400

This Comment of the Day is from "Naybor," who wrote about a possible homicide of a transgender women in Columbia Heights Saturday.

I live across the street from where this happened. I didn’t hear a thing and I feel badly that I could not have done something to stop this. I just wanted to let whoever did this know that there are children that live in the house where you left this person to die. Today they are riding their bikes and walking by the crime scene tape. Everyone has the right to live as they feel they should so long as they do not hurt other people and I hope the killers are apprehended and brought to full justice soon.

Death of Transgender Woman Early this Morning May be Homicide

Laura Amico — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 16:30:21 -0400

A person who died after being found unconscious early this morning in Columbia Heights is a transgender woman and her death may be a homicide, the Washington Blade reports.

D.C. police suspect a transgender woman who was found unconscious on the street at 11th and Fairmont streets, N.W., about 4 a.m. Saturday and who died a short time later at Howard University Hospital was the victim of a homicide.

But according to police sources, an official classification of the case as a murder won’t be made until the city’s Medical Examiner’s office completes an autopsy on the as yet unidentified woman.

MPD Commander Jacob Kishter sent a message to the Third District listserve early Saturday morning about the death and asking for the public help.

He wrote:

The Third District is currently investigating the death of a subject who was found unconscious in the 2600 block of 11th St NW.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Department on 2027279099 or 888919CRIME or text at 50411.

In July, transgender woman Myles "LaShay" McLean was fatally shot in Northeast D.C. No arrests have been announced in that case.