Five years to the week after their daughter’s grisly death, a trans woman’s family in Philadelphia has finally received justice with the conviction of Akhenaton Jones for her murder.

Dominique Rem’mie Fells’ dismembered body parts were found floating in the Schuylkill River in southwest Philadelphia by a passerby in June 2020. 

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She had stab wounds, facial and cranial trauma, and both legs were severed at the thigh. Those injuries led police to initially suspect she might have been run over by a train.  

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Instead, it was what Assistant District Attorney Toczylowski called “one of the most savage and personal and hateful crimes” she has ever seen.

Jones was charged in the death of Fells after a six-month search found him in Los Angeles.

Authorities had issued a warrant for Jones on charges of murder, possession of an instrument of crime, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. He was considered armed and dangerous and listed as one of Philadelphia’s most wanted fugitives.

Two witnesses at the scene of the murder in a Philadelphia apartment told investigators they saw Fells and Jones enter a bedroom before briefly leaving the property.

When they returned, they found Fells’ lifeless body on the bed and the room “covered in blood.”

Police discovered a knife, an electric saw, and a hazmat suit all sharing Fells’ blood and Akhenaton’s DNA, prosecutors said at trial.

Akhenaton did not share a motive for killing Fells. He did try to pin it on one of the witnesses, but admitted to dismembering the victim.

Weeks after her death, at the height of Black Lives Matter protests, Fells’ parents joined hundreds of protesters marching through West Philadelphia in memory of their daughter, as well as Breonna Taylor and other Black and transgender victims of violence.  

Fells’ aunt, Germyce Williams, said at the time that the family was hopeful justice would be served.

“Our goal in all of this, if any good can come from this, is that we’re going to keep Dominique’s memory alive,” Williams said. “We’re going to just make the general public more aware of trans issues. Trans are people, too. And when we say Black lives matter, all Black lives matter, that includes trans people.”

More than 460,000 people signed a Change.org petition demanding that Fells’ slaying be solved.

On Monday, her family members spoke at a press conference to announce Jones’ conviction, Fox News 29 reports.

“The verdict last Monday brought justice for our daughter, Dominique Rem’mie, but it doesn’t take away the pain of losing her,” her mother said.

After Jones’ arrest five years ago, Fells’ sister, Dior Edmonds, posted to Twitter, now X: “How does this feel like the best and worst day of my life at the same time?”

Along with a photo of Jones, Edmonds wrote, “I’m posting this fool’s face up once again because karma has come back full circle. Dominique always gets the last laugh.”

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