Transgender woman fatally shot between shopping centers

MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. (AP) - Montgomery County Police say a transgender woman was shot and killed between two shopping centers in Montgomery Village.

Officers say 21-year-old Zella Ziona was found suffering from a gunshot wound about 5:45 p.m. Thursday in an alley between Montgomery Village Plaza and the Montgomery Village Crossing shopping centers. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police Chief J. Thomas Manger says officers are working to develop a suspect or suspects in what he called a “horrific crime.”

Police had earlier identified Ziona as a man named DeAndre Smith. After speaking with relatives, officers learned that Ziona identified as female.

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This story has been corrected to show the victim was a transgender woman named Zella Ziona, not a man named DeAndre Smith, and that the shooting took place in Montgomery Village, not Gaithersburg.