Man gets 32-55 years for assault of transgender woman

A Detroit man was sentenced to 32-55 years in prison for the assault and armed robbery of a transgender woman in 2017.

Charles Marion Brown, 21, was sentenced Tuesday by a Wayne County Circuit Court judge.

Brown was convicted of armed robbery causing serious injury and other charges on May 2.

His accomplice in the crime, Jujuan Alexon Williams, 19,  was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison on March 9.

Authorities said Brown and Williams attacked a transgender woman at about 1:50 a.m. on Nov. 17 in the 17800 block of Woodward Avenue near Seven Mile on Detroit’s west side. The assault was captured on video.

Police said the men told the victim to drop everything and run. As she dropped her purse and fled, Brown fired five shots from a rifle. Three gunshots struck the victim while she was running away. Williams picked up her purse as the victim fled.

Officers got a description of the getaway vehicle, an SUV, and located it. Police arrested Williams and recovered the rifle in the vehicle. Brown escaped on foot but was arrested the next day.

The victim was hospitalized and disabled after the attack.

Dana Nessel, president of Wayne County LGBTQ advocacy nonprofit Fair Michigan, praised the judge's sentence of Brown.

“Charles Brown’s sentence is a just and measured response to his horrific crimes against an innocent transgender woman," Nessel said in a statement. "This case demonstrates the continuing need for the Fair Michigan Justice Project, which, in association with the Prosecutor’s Office and the Detroit Police, was established to provide LGBTQ individuals with an effective, focused, and tenacious team dedicated to investigating, prosecuting, and solving these violent crimes against the LGBTQ community.”

cramirez@detroitnews.com