Teen Arrested For Using Dating App To Find Victims For Three ...

Waco, Texas police placed 17-year-old Damarion Trammell Degrate under arrest on Friday in connection with the shootings of gay men in the area. Police allege that Degrate used a false profile on a gay dating app to choose his victims.

Degrate is suspected of perpetrating three separate shootings including one where the victim died. Prosecutors have only formally charged Degrate for one of those cases, leveling a second-degree felony charge of attempted murder against him.

"We identified early in the investigation a link between the three shootings and the danger this suspect presented to our community," wrote Waco's interim Chief of Police Frank Gentsch in a Sunday statement. "The arrest today was the result of our Special Crimes Detectives' tireless efforts, along with our support staff, including our Crime Scene Unit and Computer Forensic Unit. I also want to thank the FBI and the United States Marshal Service for their assistance in these cases."

Waco Police also recommended that individuals use caution when using dating apps, "in particularly those that cater to the LGBTQ+ community. We strongly recommend arranging online dating meetings in public venues."

Newsweek reached out to the Waco Police Department for further comment.

Degrate allegedly set up meetings between himself and the three men using an assumed name and a false phone number which was set up through a messaging app.

Degrate's first alleged victim was shot inside of a car, according to an affidavit from the Waco police.

"After being gone for several minutes, the defendant [Degrate] returned to the vehicle where the victim was waiting, opened the passenger door and shot the victim in the chest at point blank range," the affidavit states. "The victim was able to drive off and eventually stop at a gas station less than one mile away."

Police also suspect Degrate of being responsible for the shooting death of Jonathan Breeding, who was also shot while inside his vehicle. Breeding died at a local medical facility. A third individual was also shot in the chest on the same night.

Committing crimes against gay individuals can be considered a hate crime, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation defines as a "criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity."

In 2019, two Dallas, Texas men were convicted of federal hate crime charges for using the popular gay dating app Grindr to find their victims. Daryl Henry, 24, and Pablo Ceniceros-Deleon, 19, lured gay individuals to a vacant apartment. Once there, Henry and Ceniceros-Deleon used their victims' vehicles to steal money from the captives' bank accounts.

In a statement at the time, U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox for the Northern District of Texas claimed that Henry and Ceniceros-Deleon used Grindr to "single out their victim based on sexual orientation. Unfortunately, this is not the first time a dating app user has fallen victim to a violent crime. I'm urging the public to be vigilant about the dangers lurking online."

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