WASHINGTON 鈥斅燤ontgomery County police say a transgender woman may have been lured to an alley before her murder, .
Court records obtained by聽NBC Washington聽shed more light on what聽happened before聽Zella Ziona, 21, was killed Thursday.
Ziona was shot while in a service alley between the聽Montgomery Village Plaza and the Montgomery Village Crossing shopping centers.聽A Germantown man, Rico Hector Leblond,聽20, of the 12700 block of Wisteria Drive, has since been charged with murder in connection with her death, .
About 30 minutes before the killing, police responded to聽a report of a group of people fighting in the area, and one person being hit with a stick, NBC Washington reports.
Detectives now believe the person who was hit was Ziona.
Police say聽Leblond was also involved in the fight and became聽angry when Ziona gained the advantage, NBC Washington reports, citing the court records.
The court records allege that Leblond jumped from behind a trash bin聽and began shooting, NBC Washington reports.
A witnesses described seeing him with聽a monster mask over the lower part of his face; that mask聽was later found near the scene.
Leblond was聽in Montgomery County Circuit Court Monday morning on an unrelated charge; he’s due in court on the murder charges Nov. 13.
