{"id":238543,"date":"2026-07-08T17:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T17:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/238543\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T17:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T17:01:11","slug":"philadelphia-murder-suspect-remains-at-large","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/238543\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia murder suspect remains at large"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uncloseted Media published this article on Nov. 18.<\/a><\/p>\n

By SPENCER MACNAUGHTON, SAM DONNDELINGER, and TAYA STRAUSS | On Nov. 4, Erica Deuso made history when she became the\u00a0first openly transgender<\/a>\u00a0mayor-elect of Pennsylvania, a milestone for inclusive political campaigns. Deuso won\u00a0nearly 65 percent<\/a>\u00a0of the vote and was part of a\u00a0great night<\/a>\u00a0for Democrats, with Zohran Mamdani, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill all winning their races in New York City, Virginia and New Jersey, respectively.<\/p>\n

Three days after she was elected, Uncloseted Media spoke with Deuso about how her political campaign strategies \u2014 which included focusing on \u201cgood neighbor\u201d issues rather than on her gender identity \u2014 pushed her to win big.<\/p>\n

Spencer Macnaughton:\u00a0Hi everyone, I\u2019m Spencer Macnaughton. I am joined today by Mayor-elect Erica Deuso. She is a scientist, advocate and community leader who was just elected as mayor of Downingtown, becoming the first openly transgender mayor in Pennsylvania. Mayor-elect, thank you so much for being here today.<\/p>\n

Erica Deuso:\u00a0Thank you for having me.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0So let\u2019s get right into it. You won and you made history in Pennsylvania. How are you feeling?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0It was a very long day but we were very happy to see the results. It was a clean sweep here in Chester County. All of our statewide won, all of our countywide won, and very many of our local municipal offices won too. So we\u2019re very pleased with that. As for me, I\u2019m feeling a little bit overwhelmed. I looked at this as being \u201cI\u2019m running for mayor. I\u2019m running to be the mayor of a small town in Pennsylvania,\u201d and I looked at this as I knew the history, but I didn\u2019t really know how big it was going to be. And then I took Wednesday off to sort of relax and recharge, and that\u2019s when I started getting all the requests for interviews and talking points, phone interviews, in-person interviews, Zoom interviews. I underestimated how big this would be. So, I\u2019m humbled by all the reactions and I\u2019m ready to get to work.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0What do you mean you were surprised by how big this would be? What surprised you about the reaction?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0Well, you know, I\u2019ve always looked at it like \u201cI\u2019m a scientist. I\u2019m a businesswoman. I\u2019m a sister, a daughter, a wife.\u201d You know, my gender identity, myself, I don\u2019t think about it. You know it\u2019s been 16 years since I transitioned. So it\u2019s not something that\u2019s really front of mind for me anymore. And so, I came in this thinking I was gonna run on local issues: traffic, housing affordability, flooding mitigation, public safety. And that\u2019s what I ran on. So coming into Tuesday, I knew the history, but I also knew that I didn\u2019t run on my gender identity. And I was hoping that people around Downingtown would feel very much the same way. That they care about the kitchen table issues that face small towns all around this country. And so to see the outpouring of love and respect and just people calling from all over the country, people calling from all over the world, it\u2019s very, very humbling to me. And I say that with as much gratitude as I can.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0Fantastic! And for those who don\u2019t know, since we have a national audience, Downingtown is a small, predominantly white town of roughly 8,000 people, located in Chester County, west of Philadelphia. It typically swings Democratic, and its historical roots are in industrial and mill, as an industrial mill town, and it has a higher average household income than the national average, and typically swings Democrat. But I wanna know, what does Downingtown mean [to] you? How would you describe this town that just elected you as their mayor-elect?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0Well, very much like a lot of small towns, the town is defined by the people, you know? We have something very that we\u2019re very proud of and that\u2019s this good neighbor spirit where everybody comes out and helps everybody else. So when there\u2019s a family in danger of poverty or housing issues, we come out as a community and support them. We had an individual who was abducted by ICE, and we\u2019ve thrown rallies and raised money for the family, and we\u2019re making sure that the family has what they need as far as money, food, housing, while the family patriarch is in ICE custody. When we had flooding, Hurricane Ida in 2021, historical flood, we started a program called Downingtown Strong. So we have this good neighbor spirit and that comes from the people, not the town itself. The town could be anywhere, but the people of Downingtown will always be what makes this town special.<\/p>\n

The political campaign strategies behind Deuso\u2019s Win<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0And I hear you say multiple times, \u201cgood neighbor,\u201d and I know that almost has been the slogan of your campaign, right? Tell me more about the political strategy behind the idea of branding your campaign as somebody who looks out for the good neighbor.<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0So when I first moved here in 2007, it was before I transitioned. It was back in the aughts and people were still being discriminated [against] probably more than today. It just wasn\u2019t news. And I was very scared. I was scared of what my neighbors would think, scared of what the town in general would think. The outpouring of love and support when I went through my transition was just amazing. So I look at this as giving back to the people who made me feel at home, made me feel welcome, even through the toughest part of my life. And I think when it comes to building my campaign, that\u2019s where it was centered, is that I was trying to give back. Trying to thank the town for being there for me by saying that I\u2019m going to be there for you.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0That\u2019s beautiful. And take me back to when you did come out publicly. Do you have any kind of concrete examples that you can point to of when you remember the community coming around for you?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0So,I had a neighbor who lived across the street from me. I had just come out. She didn\u2019t know. She knew me, but she didn\u2019t know me well. So as I\u2019m starting to come out, my hair\u2019s getting longer, I\u2019m dressing differently, I\u2019m trying out new names and things like that. And it was wintertime. She came out, we helped shovel out her car because she needed to get to work. And she asked me, \u201cHey, you know, what\u2019s going on? I\u2019ve seen a bunch of changes, but I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on.\u201d So I told her. And she\u2019s like, \u201cIf you need anything, if you need me to stick up for you in town, if you need me to take you to a doctor\u2019s appointment, if you need anything, just let me know.\u201d And it was maybe a week later, we were out together, we grabbed some coffee and somebody, when I went and gave them my name, they called out, they just said, \u201cEric.\u201d My friend, my new friend, who had known me basically for a week, goes up to the counter and says, \u201cIt\u2019s Erica, get the name right.\u201d And they turned, you know, they blushed. They said, \u201cOh, we\u2019re so sorry, we got the name wrong\u201d and everything. And I\u2019ve never had a problem with that coffee shop since. It\u2019s those sort of things where it\u2019s just, if somebody misgenders you, if somebody dead names you, my community has my back.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0Having those people who have your back and stand up for you, Downingtown community members, how does that make you feel on an emotional level? What does it do for your mental health?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0It makes me feel at ease, you know. It makes me feel less tense, less anxiety. When you\u2019re first coming out, you\u2019re taking those first steps with trepidation. You\u2019re wondering, \u201cIs today going to be the day that someone\u2019s going to call me a man? Is today the day where somebody\u2019s going to call me out for using the bathroom at the McDonald\u2019s, or who\u2019s going to laugh at the way that I\u2019m dressed or my makeup or something?\u201d And to know that people have my back, to know I have friends and community members who are there to support and understand and learn and grow with me, that means everything because it made transition so much easier.<\/p>\n

SM: And, you know, obviously Downingtown sounds like they\u2019ve been an amazing support, most of the members. But I\u2019m sure not everyone is supportive. And I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve met some people and interacted with people who maybe have never met a trans person before while you were campaigning. What did you find through your campaign worked the best in accessing people who may be misinformed about trans people, who may have never met a trans person and who could never imagine a trans person as their elected leader? What were the kind of tools that worked the best from a communication strategy point of view?<\/p>\n

ED: Humor. Humor always works the greatest. I remember going to somebody\u2019s door and a woman came to the door. She said, \u201cOh, I\u2019m not voting for him.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cWho are you \u2014 there\u2019s no hims around here.\u201d And she said, \u201cOh, I thought you were a man.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cNope, no, I haven\u2019t been a man for 16 years. You know? And even then that\u2019s questionable.\u201d And she started to laugh. And I said, \u201cRight now, I\u2019m just worried about our town. I\u2019m worried about the traffic on our street here. You know, we have this new development up the street, it empties right onto your street here. What\u2019s going on with that? How has that affected you?\u201d And she said, \u201cWell, to be honest, it\u2019s been a pain because I need to get to work right around the time that the kids are getting picked up from school. And it\u2019s tough because now I have to wait for all the traffic and then the school buses.\u201d And just by using that little bit of humor at the beginning, it bridged that gap. It made me be able to have a conversation with this person who originally had just dismissed me out of hand.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0And it probably disarmed them and opened up a door for them to feel comfortable enough to ask you questions they might not be sure they can ask.<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0All too often you see trans people being labeled as angry or upset or you\u2019re going to trigger them by using a name or using a pronoun that they don\u2019t agree with. And, to me, I just look at it from a point of humor and be able to disarm people through a little bit of humor, a little bit of good nature, and not taking things so seriously. Because at the end of the day, we\u2019re all in this together. And if I can use a little bit of humor to disarm a situation and do some education, that\u2019s far easier than coming at it from a place of anger or being upset.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0That\u2019s so interesting. Any other strategies that you found worked?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0Just focusing on the issues has been the biggest thing. The other side of the aisle, people who want to bring hate and division into this town, came at me trying to make this campaign about my identity. They tried to find anything that I would post, like when I was endorsed by groups like Advocates for Trans Equality or the Victory Fund or LPAC. I would post things on social media saying, \u201cHey, I\u2019m really proud to have been endorsed by these groups.\u201d And they would take that as, you know, I\u2019m trying to shove gender ideology on them. When in fact, it\u2019s really just [that] we have a robust LGBTQ community in Chester County. And here in Pennsylvania, we have about 71,000 trans people. I want to make sure that they\u2019re represented. And the rabble rousers, the people trying to push against me, tried to make this divisive about my gender. But it didn\u2019t really work when all I\u2019m talking about is public safety, traffic and flooding.<\/p>\n

What political outreach means for Deuso<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0I think what you just said is kind of a micro representation of the strategies that worked in many other elections this week, right? Where you found, you know, Mayor-elect Mamdani of New York City focusing on affordability, but at the same time not ditching trans and queer people along the way. At the same time, we have the federal government winning from being hateful toward trans people.\u00a0In my opinion, as somebody who looks at this all day, we\u2019re reaching a precipice among the American populace where they\u2019re starting to realize the BS of all of this misinformation and starting to recognize that \u201cI don\u2019t have to vote for a politician just because they\u2019re against a group. I can actually care about the issues\u201d kind of thing. Does that track?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0It does. I mean, if you look at the campaigns of Mayor-elect Mamdani, Governor-elect Spanberger, Governor-elect Sherrill in New Jersey, the anti-trans ads did nothing. I had somebody circulate a letter a couple days before the election saying that the flooding issues that I had were garbage, saying that I was misleading people with my gender identity. And they brought it around town through our local Turning Point Action group here in Chester County. They had middle schoolers running these letters and putting them on people\u2019s doors and under placemats. The reaction to that was, \u201cThis is awful to a person around town.\u201d I heard literally hundreds of people at the polls tell me, \u201cYou know, I wasn\u2019t going to come out and vote today but getting that letter brought me out and not for what they thought it was going to do.\u201d Um, I think people are just starting to see LGBTQ people, immigrants, people of other races, ethnic backgrounds, that didn\u2019t scare people off the way that the opposition thought it was going to scare people off. We\u2019re moving to a place where if a person is the most qualified person, I think people want that. And it starts up at the top. People are seeing that maybe we didn\u2019t elect the most qualified person to be president right now. All these things that the current administration wants to do just to make some people\u2019s lives harder is turning a lot of other people off. So if we focus on the things that really matter to the American people, to the people of Downingtown, the people of Pennsylvania, I think that\u2019s what\u2019s really gonna win people. If you compare somebody\u2019s health care premiums to whether or not someone\u2019s transgender, I think they\u2019re gonna be more worried about the health care premiums at this point.<\/p>\n

Pa. governor election: the bigger picture<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0So fascinating, and I think all of that resonates. And I think a lot of Americans are ready to just care about the issues and tackle the issues specifically. With that said, you are making history, right? As Pennsylvania\u2019s first openly transgender mayor, what does that mean for you? How are you gonna balance focusing on the issues while also honoring this history that you\u2019ve made?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0So it means a lot to me, my own gender identity. I\u2019m so happy to be able to represent our community in this situation, but there\u2019s a lot to do. The mayor of Downingtown\u2019s major responsibility is working with the police, to make sure the police have what they need to do the job that they need to do. Working as mayor, I\u2019m gonna make myself accountable, I\u2019m going to make myself available. We\u2019ve never had office hours here for a mayor, so I\u2019m gonna set up office hours. I will be there to talk to you, listen to you, understand what the problems are \u2014 sorry, there\u2019s a little bug \u2014 understand where the problems are in town.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0Obviously you\u2019re courageous, but are you afraid in any ways being in this elected position, given how much animus there is towards the trans community right now in America?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0I was. At the very beginning of this, right after the primary, and it was a landslide. So that made a lot of people happy, but at the same time it really made some people unhappy. And there was some chatter, there were some potentials for violence. And we made sure that when we had some events this summer and this fall that we were doing our best to make sure we were protected. And we had two security people at a Fall Fest that we had here where people knew where I was going to be at every minute of the day, that day, and this was weeks after the Charlie Kirk assassination. And just because of the use of firearms, it was such an open place, I did invest personally in some protective armor underneath my clothes for that. Thankfully, we didn\u2019t need it. So, we were safe with that. But still, we kept security in mind. Thankfully, there was no violence to speak of. Just a lot of people speaking out of a place of ignorance and misunderstanding.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0You\u2019re saying armor, you wore a bulletproof vest?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0Yes.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0Wow, and I\u2019m guessing you wouldn\u2019t have done that and you wouldn\u2019t have hired security if you weren\u2019t transgender, is that fair?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0That is fair. This town leans Democratic. I\u2019m not worried about a lot of the majority of the people of this town. And really the people of this town who could vote in the borough were not the problem. It was people from the outlying areas of this town, the townships that surround us. That\u2019s where a lot of the divisiveness and people trying to force this campaign to be about my gender. That\u2019s where they came from. We couldn\u2019t really control them very well. So we just need to prepare for every eventuality.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0Obviously, there\u2019s been transphobic comments on social media as there always are. Sometimes you\u2019ve been responding and sometimes you haven\u2019t. What\u2019s kind of behind the decisions of when to engage and when to leave it?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0So I think when some of these comments come from a place of ignorance, there\u2019s an opportunity for education. I remember one comment where somebody said, \u201cYou wanna just chop off your genitals\u201d and things like that. And I said, \u201cLook, if you follow the WPATH guidelines, everything starts with mental health,\u201d and they came back and said, \u201cI had no clue that there was this much involved with it.\u201d To know that, yeah, they may disagree with it still, but at least they have a better understanding of the process and it isn\u2019t just, somebody wakes up tomorrow and decides that they wanna go have surgery. It doesn\u2019t work that way. And for other reasons, I don\u2019t want a kid [or] another trans person to see my posts, see all the hate, and then not see me push back against it, you know? I don\u2019t want them to think that I\u2019m just gonna sit back and take it when other people in power are telling me, \u201cYou can\u2019t use this bathroom,\u201d or \u201cYou have to change your passport or your driver\u2019s license or something that you have to change it back.\u201d No, I\u2019m not going to just stay silent because that trans kid is looking at me. They\u2019re looking at me for leadership. And if I just stay silent on those sort of things, that person\u2019s thinking, \u201cWell, there\u2019s no one standing up for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0You must feel like you have a duty to engage.<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0Exactly, that\u2019s how I feel about it, is that, you know, when there\u2019s something, you have to push back against it because there\u2019s always people watching.<\/p>\n

Pa. governor election and national political trends<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0What would you say to politicians at the highest level of government in America right now who are stoking this fire of transphobia and anti-trans animus?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0Let\u2019s have a conversation. I think if we can find 5 percent of an issue where we can agree on, I think we can build on that. Let\u2019s bring the temperature down on LGBTQ issues. Let\u2019s stop worrying about whether or not someone can change the letter on their passport. And let\u2019s have a conversation about how best we can treat everybody as Americans. And as equals.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0And you would sit down with the Donald Trumps and the other people to talk about that? You would be open to that?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0If there was somebody who was willing to have an actual conversation where we could find common ground and build on it, I would sit down with anybody. That said, if I know that it\u2019s not turning into a good-faith argument, that conversation is going to be over, and we\u2019ll find somebody else who will have a good-faith conversation.<\/p>\n

What it means to be a trans politician in today\u2019s climate<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0I want to go back to little Erica. At what age do you think you realized you were trans, and tell me a little bit about those early realizations.<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0So, I believe I was 4. It was very early on, but that was 1984, at a time when people didn\u2019t know anything about this. My parents obviously didn\u2019t know anything about it. I lived with that for six years, knowing that I didn\u2019t have the language, I didn\u2019t have the verbiage, I didn\u2019t understand what was going on. It was a time when kids didn\u2019t go to therapists. And so I waited until I was 10 to tell my parents. And, obviously, it was 1990, and things didn\u2019t go over well at that point. It wasn\u2019t something they knew anything about and they came at it from a place of fear, not understanding. So I sort of shoved it down a little bit, and then college came around and I tried to do something about it again in college when I was 19. And I met my ex on the way to therapy. So put it on the shelf again. And it wasn\u2019t until I was 29 that I realized, \u201cHey, I don\u2019t wanna turn 30 and not know who I really am.\u201d So I went to a therapist who specializes in gender identity and gender dysphoria here in the area. And by the end of the first session, she said, \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve met another person who fits as many criteria for this as you do.\u201d So we started on the path. I did get amicably divorced from my ex. Still friendly. I\u2019m very happy for her. She has a very cute little girl, happily married again. I\u2019m happily married now again. And life is good. And very, very happy with the way things happen. And everything happens for a reason. And I firmly believe that I\u2019m living this life for a reason. Maybe it\u2019s to be the mayor. Maybe it\u2019s for something greater. Who knows? But right now I\u2019m focused on being the best mayor Downingtown has ever had.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0What would your message to young kids be who might have dreams of being mayor or other, you know, amazing career paths, but aren\u2019t sure if they can be out and proud and do these and achieve these ambitions?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0You will surprise yourself with what you\u2019re capable of once you say that \u201cI\u2019m going to just be myself, no matter what anybody else says.\u201d There will always be people who push you to be different, whether you\u2019re trans or not, but you have to persevere and say, \u201cThis is who I am. This is what I\u2019m going to do with my life,\u201d and just keep pushing because you only have one life, and you need to live it in the way that\u2019s going to bring you the most joy and the most happiness and be the best for yourself.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0What are you most excited [about] when it comes to getting to work?<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0Well, I want everybody to know, who voted me in, that I\u2019m eternally grateful for the responsibility that you have given me. I\u2019m not gonna let you down.<\/p>\n

SM:\u00a0Fabulous. Well Mayor-elect Deuso, I think you should be very proud. You\u2019re a role model overnight, kind of, which might have even surprised you. And I wish you the best of luck as Mayor of Downingtown. Thank you so much for speaking with me and Uncloseted Media today.<\/p>\n

ED:\u00a0Thank you so much for having me, and my door\u2019s always open.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Uncloseted Media published this article on Nov. 18. By SPENCER MACNAUGHTON, SAM DONNDELINGER, and TAYA STRAUSS | On…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[564,102620,102621,102340,24382,102336,783,102622,28,102623,69,71,35529,70,595,102337,15084],"class_list":["post-238543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-featured","tag-frank-vanore","tag-hunting-park-recreation-center","tag-jahylin-melchur","tag-juniata-park","tag-martin-higgins","tag-murder","tag-nbc10","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pgn","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-inquirer","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-philadelphia-police-department","tag-sharef-holman","tag-temple-university-hospital"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}