TAMPA — A body was discovered Tuesday morning near the playground at University Area Community Park, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said that Samuel Elijah Clarke, 25, was found between the basketball courts and the playground of the park. x

HCSO homicide detectives responded to the scene and, with the assistance of medical personnel from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office, confirmed that the victim exhibited obvious signs of homicidal violence to the upper body and that the victim was a male dressed in women's clothing. x

“We are not going to categorize him as a transgender. We can just tell you he had women’s clothing on at the time,” Detective Larry McKinnon, a spokesman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, told BuzzFeed News. “What his lifestyle was prior to that we don’t know — whether he was a cross dresser, we don’t know.” Initial calls to 911 descibed the victim as a woman but a medical examiner later identified him as male, McKinnon said. “He is a male,” McKinnon continued. “I can’t tell you he is a female.” x

Detectives are asking for anyone with any information reference this homicide to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Originally posted by Pristine where on the planet is Tampa Bay? Transphobia is vile.

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