Beaufort man accused in court of beating transgender woman he met on dating app
A Beaufort man is accused of beating a transgender woman after meeting her through a dating app, according to testimony in court Friday.
The assault occurred on Jan. 29 when Beaufort County Sheriff’s deputies found the woman severely injured on the side of the road, Investigator Robert Byrd said Friday.
Byrd testified at the preliminary hearing of Vada Donnell McCollum, 22, of Beaufort, who is facing charges of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, as well as grand larceny.
A judge, after hearing testimony, found probable cause for the charges. The case next will be presented to a grand jury for indictment.
Dating app assault
According to Byrd’s testimony, McCollum was messaging with a woman over a dating app called Tagged. They agreed to meet.
The investigator said the two were in the woman’s car near Cherokee Farms Road in Burton on the night of Jan. 29, when an argument ensued.
McCollum discovered the woman is transgender and told police he began punching her in the face inside the car, Byrd said.
Dispatchers received a call after 9 p.m. from the woman, who said her car was being stolen, and she was holding onto the top as the driver was driving away, according to a report.
Another 911 call shortly after said the woman was lying bloodied on the side of the road.
Byrd said the woman suffered from serious head and face injuries and had to be airlifted to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
A March 2021 study from the Williams Institute from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law found that transgender people are over four times more likely to experience violence compared to cisgender people.
Shortly after the assault, police began looking for the woman’s car, a Hyundai Accent. Byrd said a S.C. Highway Patrol trooper pulled McCollum over near a McDonald’s off Parris Island Gateway. He was charged and booked into jail at 1:30 a.m. Jan. 30.
Court records show McCollum’s bond is set at $110,000 for both charges.
