Men Arrested for Attacking Transgender Women Released from Jail

A man who was arrested in connection with an attack on YouTube performer Eden the Doll and two other transgender social media influencers in Hollywood was released from jail Tuesday after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office asked police to further investigate the allegations.

“Our office has asked for further investigation. No charges have been filed at this time. Once the investigation is complete, the case will be reviewed for filing consideration,” Greg Risling of the District Attorney’s Office said.

Carlton Callway, 29, who had been behind bars since his arrest last Thursday by Los Angeles police, was released from custody at 2:20 p.m., according to jail records.

Another suspect, Willie Walker, 42, was arrested last Wednesday and released later the same day, jail records show.

A third man, Davion Williams, is wanted for questioning, police said.

Terra Russell-Slavin, the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s director of policy and community building, called for the district attorney to “be held accountable to provide the basis on which this decision was made in light of the victims’ accounts and bystander videos of the incident.”

“At a time when transgender women of color, and especially black transgender women, are being violently assaulted, and in many instances murdered, at vastly disproportionate rates, this decision cannot stand without further explanation,” Russell-Slavin said in a written statement released by the center Tuesday afternoon. “We demand a full accounting for the process, and we will continue to raise our voices of protest until our questions are answered.”

Eden Estrada — whose online persona is Eden the Doll — was waiting for an Uber with Joslyn Flawless and Jaslene Whiterose about 2:15 a.m. Aug. 17 when Callway allegedly approached them, according to the victims’ social media posts and the LAPD. He allegedly offered to buy them merchandise at a store in the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard, near Wilcox Avenue, but refused to pay and the women left, police said.

He allegedly approached them again with a metal bar and demanded one of the women’s shoes and bracelet. She complied out of fear, and the suspect grabbed her hand and forced her to walk a short distance with him before she could escape, police said.

He then allegedly assaulted a second victim with a bottle, knocking her to the ground, according to police.

“He held a crow bar to my face and threatened to kill me unless I stripped my shoes off and gave him my jewelry and all my (possessions),” Joslyn Flawless wrote on Instagram. “He said if I was trans, he would kill me. He then forced me to hold his hand while he looks for my friends to kill them for being trans.”

The victims said the man took their phones, wallets and purses.

“It was absolutely the worst day of my life,” Estrada told CBS2, adding she believes it was a targeted attack.

“My friend completely collapsed,” Estrada said. “I’m not a doctor. I don’t know if she’s breathing. I’m trying my hardest to help her. I’m begging people for help. I’m screaming for help.”

Estrada said in a social media post that bystanders walked past the victims and did not stop to help, and some witnesses are seen on video laughing at the women.

“To see this level of violence celebrated gleefully, so much so the perpetrator himself posted it on social media, it’s like a sucker punch to all of us who believe in civilized behavior,” Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said during a news conference last Thursday.

A video on social media also shows an LAPD vehicle driving by and not stopping.

Members of the public asked LAPD officials during a Los Angeles Police Commission virtual meeting last week why an officer drove by without stopping, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Chief Michael Moore told the commission the incident and the department’s response was being reviewed.