Police on Friday arrested a man in connection with the recent murder of Zella Ziona, a transgender woman of color.

Ziona, 21, was shot in the head Thursday. She was found in a service alley next to a laundromat in Gaithersburg, Maryland and rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead roughly two hours later.

According to WJLA, police arrested 20-year-old Rico Hector Leblond and charged him with first-degree murder. He is being held without bond.

Investigators believe Ziona and Leblond knew each other. They said the murder might have been motivated by hate.

Jasmine Black, a friend of the deceased, told local media that Ziona had only recently begun to identify as transgender.

“She just wanted to embrace her life. She wanted to show the world how to be transgender,” Black said.

Another friend, Barbie Johnson, called Ziona “amazing.”