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[B]URLINGTON — Police say four people wanted in last month’s killing of Amos Beede, a well-known member of the city’s homeless community, were arrested Thursday in San Diego, California.
Police said in a news release Thursday evening that the suspects, two men and two women, were last known to be in Roswell, New Mexico. Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said in a Tweet early Friday that the suspects were arrested without incident by San Diego Police.
All #AmosBeede murder suspects APPREHENDED in San Diego, California, without incident, thanks to the @SanDiegoPD. https://t.co/sVkJvEUizI
— Brandon del Pozo (@BrandondelPozo) June 3, 2016
Police say they will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Friday to provide more details and take questions on the case.
Erik Averill, 21, Jordan Paul, 21, Myia Barber, 22, and Allison Gee, 25, are wanted on second-degree murder charges in the beating death of Beede, police said. The suspects are identified as being from Vermont.
Averill was arrested in Roswell on suspicion of assaulting Barber on Tuesday and released before investigators in Vermont learned of the suspects’ whereabouts and asked that they be held, according to the news release.
“A wide network of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies has been mobilized to apprehend these suspects,” wrote Burlington Police Lt. Shawn Burke in a statement.
Beede, 38, suffered multiple blunt force injuries to his face and head. He was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center on May 22 and was found to have a subdural hematoma, facial fractures and several broken ribs, police said. He died Sunday in the hospital.
Beede was a transgender man and an active member of the region’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, according to the Pride Center of Vermont, an organization that promotes the health and safety of LGBTQ people.
“Whenever (Beede) came into the Pride Center of Vermont, the first thing he’d do is pet my colleague’s dog, Georgia, and give her a big hello,” said Kim Fountain, executive director of the center, in a statement on its website. “He was always very cheerful when he came in to visit and spend time with his friends. He was out about being a transgender man, and I think he felt at home at the Pride Center.”
Last week the center hosted a community gathering to serve as a memorial for Beede and show support for his family. There will be a formal memorial service at 6 p.m. June 8 at Perkins Pier in Burlington.
Police have said they are investigating whether Beede’s transgender identity played a role in his killing, but in a statement released just after his death, Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said, “The investigation suggests motives on the part of perpetrators independent of this fact.”
Del Pozo added that investigators had not ruled out Beede’s transgender identity as an additional motivating factor.
In their statement Thursday, police did not identify a motive for the brutal attack.
