Gang Member Found Guilty Of Murdering Transgender Woman Found In Shallow Grave

A gang member has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to the murder of a transgender woman whose body was found in a shallow grave in Johnston County in 2015.

The remains of 20 year-old Elisha Walker from Rowan County were found in August 2015 on Homestead Lane, off Swift Creek Road, just west of Smithfield by the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office and a Wake County Sheriff’s Office K-9 cadaver dog.

Walker had been reported missing by her mother on November 11, 2014 but was last seen in October 2014.  Her silver 2000 Pontiac Sunfire was discovered burned in a field near Clinton in Sampson County on November 22, 2014.

Angel Dejesus Arias, 25, who was living near Walker in Salisbury when she disappeared, pled guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced to 19 to 24 years in the NC Department of Corrections.

Arias was a known member of the Latin Kings street gang who moved from Salisbury to Smithfield in February 2015.  Arias was located in Johnston County a short time after Walker’s body was discovered and arrested for the murder. He was tried on the charges in Salisbury.