Statement Regarding the Vicious Murder of Pauly Likens
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 16, 2024
Sharon, PA — The tragic and gruesome death and dismemberment of 14-year-old Pauly Likens has left our community shocked. While the media has focused on the murder itself, it seems to have forgotten one aspect — the potential sex crime that happened between a 14-year-old transgender girl, and allegedly, a 29-year-old man after arranging a meeting via the popular LGBTQ+ hookup app Grindr.
The alleged 29-year-old DaShawn Watkins admitted to meeting a person off Grindr in the early morning hours of June 23, 2024. While no evidence of sexual assault has been found among the recovered body parts, the reputation for Grindr being a gay hookup app is popular enough to assume that the two didn’t arrange a meeting for a casual in-person chat. Sadly, we may never know the true events of that night, but we must be an advocate for Ms. Pauly Likens. No member of our community deserves such an ending to their story. We can only hope that justice for this case is swift and done to the fullest extend of the law–including calling this what it was–a hate crime.
For these sexual violence issues, AWARE wants the family of Pauly Likens to know that we are here to be a confidential resource that offers an ear to listen to and a shoulder to cry on. Our history of being a rape crisis center for victims of sexual assault and their families has prepared us for these situations. We cannot begin to imagine the pain of the Likens family, nor would we diminish that pain by trying to relate such a tragedy. To the family, friends, and Sharon, PA community as a whole, we are a resource to all of those who are affected by these crimes.
We would also like to applaud the quick actions of the PA Youth Congress and the Shenango Valley LGBTQIA+ Alliance, which rallied support and set up a vigil within days. Their quick and respectful response to this event shows just how much compassion exists in the LGBTQ+ community.
For media inquiries, please contact Nicole Cadman, Director of Program Services at ncadman@merceraware.org
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AWARE, Inc. has served Mercer County since 1976, when a small group of committed women–professionals from Pennsylvania State University, Shenango campus, the Mental Health Association, and community volunteers–stirred to respond to the needs of rape victims. Influenced by the seminal work by Susan Brownmiller, Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, the core group of volunteers founded the Rape Crisis Center of Mercer County in December 1976. AWARE is committed to providing education, support, and advocacy for all people in Mercer County impacted by domestic, emotional, sexual violence and elder abuse. We are helping the hurting to heal.