Autopsy Report: Slain transgender woman stabbed 24 times
An autopsy report by the County medical examiner’s office concludes a transgender woman “died of stab wounds of face and torso with injuries of lung and carotid artery. The manner of death is homicide.”
Cell phone tower records and surveillance footage led detectives to the Fort Bliss soldier accused of killing the woman.
Police arrested Specialist Anthony Michael Bowden, 21, and charged him with murder. Bowden allegedly told police he had sex with the victim inside her apartment, but denied having anything to do with the killing of 36-year-old Eric “Erykah” Tijerina, a complaint affidavit states.
The autopsy report states Tijerina was stabbed 24 times, including more than 10 times in the back and once in the left cheek below the earlobe. Tijerina was also slashed approximately 20 times around the shoulders, neck and hands.
The complaint affidavit filed by police states detectives interviewed Isiah Williams, a friend of Bowden’s. Williams, in a sworn statement, told police Bowden sent him a text message in which Bowden allegedly admits to killing the woman.
The victim’s stepfather found her dead inside her apartment at the Rio Grande Community housing complex in South-Central El Paso at about 8:30 p.m. August 8th. The complex is on the 200 block of Lisbon Street.
Police said the stepfather called police. When an officer entered the victim’s apartment, he found her dead from multiple stab wounds. The stepfather told the officer his stepson, Tijerina, worked as an escort. The man also said the woman was getting ready to go on a date when he last saw her.
The victim’s neighbors reportedly saw an African American man in his early 20s enter Tijerina’s apartment between 6 and 7 p.m. the night of the murder.
Police allegedly obtained Bowden’s cell phone number by reviewing the victim’s cell phone records. Detectives then examined cell phone tower records, which allegedly show the victim’s and defendant’s cell phones accessed the same tower at 408 Kyle Street. Police said this is “consistent with the two phones being in the same location.”
Bowden is the registered owner of a 1970 Chevrolet El Camino, blue in color with white racing stripes. Police said surveillance footage recorded in properties near the Rio Grande Community housing complex show the vehicle heading in the direction of the complex, then driving away from the complex at around the time the victim was found dead.
Bowden was booked into the El Paso County Jail with bond set at $750,000. ABC-7 has learned he is a Patriot Launching Station crewman assigned to Fort Bliss’ 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery, which is part of the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade of the 32d Army Air and Missile Defense Command.
Bowden has been assigned to Fort Bliss since January 2014 and has been with his current unit since July.
