Transgender Woman's Accused Killer Faces Second Trial

GAITHERSBURG, MD — A second murder trial of a Germantown man charged in the October 2015 homicide of a transgender female in Montgomery County began Monday after a jury in an earlier trial failed to reach a verdict. Jurors were stalemated at 10-2, in favor of convicting Rico Hector Leblond, now 22, of Germantown, when a judge declared a mistrial in January 2017.

According to police, Zella Ziona, 21, of Montgomery Village was shot to death Oct. 15, 2015, in a service alley behind a Montgomery Village shopping center at 18312 Contour Road. Ziona was found and taken to an area hospital, where she died from multiple gunshot wounds, the medical examiner said.

Leblond and Ziona were friends, prosecutors said, but Leblond reportedly shot Ziona when she flirted with him in front of male friends, WTOP reports.

Ziona was born DeAndre Smith and Leblond was embarrassed by the flirtation, prosecutors said at the trial. But defense attorneys argued that witness accounts varied considerably with other suspects suggested as the possible gunman.

Leblond is charged with first-degree murder and faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted.
»Photo of Rico Leblond courtesy of Montgomery County Police