3 charged in slaying of transgender rapper

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MILWAUKEE, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Milwaukee said Wednesday three suspects have been charged in the apparent gang slaying of a transgender rapper missing since Jan. 1.

The suspects -- Victor Stewart, 27, Ashanti Mcalister, 19, and Billy R. Griffin, 26 -- were charged with substantial battery with intent to cause bodily harm. No homicide charges have been filed but Griffin has told investigators of a brutal attack on the victim, whose body has not been found, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Court documents identify the victim as Ebony Young, a female. She had initially been identified as Evon Young, 22, also known as Yung LT.

A criminal complaint alleges Griffin -- who was Young's roommate -- told investigators Stewart and Mcalister came to his house and announced Young could not be trusted. The three took Young at gunpoint to the basement, where they choked her with a chain and taped a plastic bag over her head, the complaint said.

Young passed out and the suspects then beat her with tools, the complaint alleges. Griffin told police he went upstairs when he could not watch the attack any longer, and then heard three gunshots.

The court document does not indicate where Young's body was taken after the attack at her home. It says Griffin told investigators Stewart told him to explain Young's absence by saying Young had simply gone away and not come back.