Police Search for California Trans Woman's Murderer

Police are searching for a suspect in the murder of a Californian transgender woman.

NBC's Los Angeles affiliate reports that Domonique Newburn, 32, was killed at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in her apartment in Fontana, Calif.

Officers responding to a call from neighbors found the residence's front door unlocked and the victim's body near a window, indicating she may have been trying to escape from her assailant.

The San Bernardino County coroner's office reported that Newburn's body showed signs of physical trauma, but the cause of death is not yet determined.

Neighbors said they saw a man in his late 20s or early 30s of average height and build leaving the scene in the victim's black 2004 Mercedes C240 sedan. The California license plate number is 7AAY925. KTLA reports that he was seen taking a computer and clothes from Newburn's apartment.

Newburn was a cast member of a reality Web series, Hollywood House Boys, which depicts four friends trying to break into the entertainment business. Production had been halted in 2010 but resumed recently.

Newburn, on the series' website, wrote that her "Hollywood ambitions are to have gender reassignment surgery ... and be the first trans-gender to one day have a hit song on iTunes."

Anyone with information on this case should contact the Fontana Police Department.