A 48-year-old divorced massage therapist who had recently moved to Los Angeles and was living with her much-younger transgender romantic partner was shot multiple times and killed in their Beverly Grove home last weekend, in what police described as a “domestic dispute.”
Carla Maribel Rodriguez was found shot inside the $2.4 million house shortly before 8:30 a.m. last Sunday after police were called with reports of gunfire.
Rodriguez died after being rushed to the hospital.
Her beloved dog, Prince, was also shot and killed.
Los Angeles police arrested 27-year-old Emily Emerald Vogdt at the residence.
Vogdt, who identifies as a trans man and uses her middle name “Emerald,” is being held at the Century Regional Detention Center, an all-female jail in Lynwood, on $3.075 million bail, which was increased from an initial $2 million due to the severity of the charges.
The alleged murderer appeared in court on Thursday, but the arraignment was postponed until April 29.
Investigators told Rodriguez’s family that Vogdt had been “very possessive and obsessed” with the victim and that the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute.
Family members believe Rodriguez may have been planning to leave the relationship.
Rodriguez’s brother, Joshua Vasquez, 39, confirmed to the New York Post that authorities described Vogdt as transitioning to become a man.
The family and friends had assumed Rodriguez was dating a biological male.
Rodriguez had boasted about Vogdt on Facebook, calling her “the peanut butter to my jelly” and saying that she was “in love.”
The victim’s close friend, Jacqueline Dobson, 64, told the Post that she never met Vogdt but recalled Rodriguez calling her “wonderful.”
Dobson admitted she had grown suspicious about how the couple afforded their extravagant lifestyle, which included luxury trips to Aspen and Solvang for Christmas and New Year’s, a February getaway to Mammoth, and a three-day stay at the five-star Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point overlooking the cliffs.
The couple also drove a black Lamborghini Urus valued at around $250,000. Detectives removed a rifle case from the vehicle during the investigation.
Rodriguez’s aunt, Marcella Garcia, 59, said no one in the family had ever met Vogdt.
Garcia noted that Rodriguez had told her she was “trying something different” but provided no further details about her lover being transgender.
After seeing photos online, Garcia described the suspect as “a little strange and weird looking.”
The Post reports:
Records show Vogdt stood to inherit a family trust valued at approximately $2.9 million, tied to a commercial property on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks.
The trust was established by Vogdt’s grandmother, Paula Vogdt, and passed to her daughter, Anita Vogdt, in 2013.
Anita died in 2022, leaving Vogdt as the sole heir. Despite this, Rodriguez had told her mother she was paying $1,000 per month to live in the Airbnb property the couple shared.
A dog sitter confirmed the couple’s odd relationship, saying the pair lived in separate bedrooms. She also said she had been unaware Vogdt was biologically female.
This incident comes amid a wave of high-profile shootings involving transgender individuals in recent months.
In February, Jesse Van Rootselaar, who identified as transgender, carried out a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, killing eight people, including students and a teacher, before dying by suicide.
That same month, Robert Dorgan, who also identified as transgender, gunned down family members at a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, killing three before taking his own life.
The post More Trans Violence: LA Woman and Her Dog Shot to Death by Obsessive 27-Year-Old Transgender Partner, Family Shocked by Hidden Identity appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.