AG Mayes Yet to File Charges in Case Where Trans Muslim Activist Suspected of Murder

Attorney General Kris Mayes has yet to announce charges for the murder in which a transgender Muslim activist was named a person of interest.

That activist, Eric Austin, 40, was free to attend another protest, this time the anti-Trump “No Kings” protest in Phoenix over the weekend. It has been over a year since Austin was first suspected of murder.

Austin — better known by his alias “Sumayyah Dawud” (formerly “Britney Erica Austin,” or “Britney Austin”) — identifies as a Shia Muslim, “anti-colonial,” and “anti-fascist.”

Austin posted the following almost a year to the date before the Independence Day murder occurred: “Why Do Y’all Support 4th of July?”, claiming in an anti-ICE, anti-military rant that the U.S. “violently” steals resources from Native Americans, and that colonization and slavery continues to exist to this day.

Last year, Phoenix police executed a search warrant on Austin’s home in connection to the Independence Day murder of 51-year-old Paul Franco, as first reported by the Post Millennial. That murder took place following another protest.

Franco was shot multiple times while allegedly protecting his girlfriend, Stephanie Renteria. Austin, who had accrued multiple protest-related arrests by the time of the murder, claimed self defense to police. However, Phoenix Police say there is probable cause to charge the suspect with murder.

“I just remember a black shadow just walking up to Paul and then shooting him,” said Renteria.

Muslim Trantifa gunman Eric Austin, aka “Sumayyah Dawud,” is at the “No Kings” protest in Phoenix. Last year he was a person of interest in a m—rder investigation but has not been charged yet. Phoenix Police recommend charges but the prosecutor has not charged him. https://t.co/80DjiK1udP pic.twitter.com/gPck7ZKp3N

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) October 18, 2025

Months after Franco’s murder, Austin was back to protesting with multiple weapons (an AR-15, 9mm handgun, and hunting knife) at his side.

Ngo exclusive: On July 4, a group of pro-Palestine protesters got into a fight with Paul Franco and his girlfriend in Phoenix, Ariz.

His girlfriend says her boyfriend was shot dead while trying to protect her. "I just remember a black shadow just walking up to Paul and then… pic.twitter.com/3bRXtKVo3M

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) July 17, 2024

In January, the case was referred to Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat and avid LGBTQ+ supporter. 12News reported that Phoenix Police has recommended second-degree murder charges and discharging a firearm within city limits, but refused to identify the suspect due to the lack of charges filed.

Mayes’ office said back in January that they are “reviewing the matter.”

Mayes was quick to take legal action against House Speaker Mike Johnson over his delayed swearing in of representative elect and fellow Democrat, Adelita Grijalva, during the ongoing government shutdown.

Austin, undeterred by the recommendation of murder charges, has continued attending protests. Austin was one of a handful of protesters outside Charlie Kirk’s memorial last month.

That 2020 arrest was Austin’s sixth, according to him. Austin has racked up multiple arrests in association with his protesting behavior.

“Saturday was the 6th time I got arrested fighting injustice in the ‘land of the free,’” stated Dawud on X in 2020. “Never stop fighting. #AbolishAmerikkka.”

Austin has been on the activist scene for well over a decade. In 2016, Austin was banned from the Tempe mosque he’d been attending. Austin took to protesting his ban.

Around that same time, Austin received a $115,000 settlement and an apology letter from his former employer, Deluxe Financial Services Corporation, on claims of sex discrimination and harassment. Obama’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) handled that case, in which Austin fought to use the woman’s bathroom at work. The EEOC claimed that transgender status and gender stereotyping were protected under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

In December, Austin was one of over a dozen individuals who settled a lawsuit for $6 million against Maricopa County over his October 2020 arrest during an Antifa riot that began as a George Floyd protest.

By Austin’s account, he transitioned genders in November 2010 and converted to Islam three years later.