TAMPA — Anthony Jerome Lee, fatally shot Tuesday in East Tampa, was better known in Miami Beach as “Wanda,” a balloon-breasted drag queen famous for her Whitney Houston impersonations and penchant for being, well, a bit of a jerk.
She was big on South Beach in the ’90s, and not just because she was a lanky 6-foot-6. She had a regular Sunday performance at the now-closed club Amnesia, and the crowd loved her show-stopping entrances, like the time she wore a dress made of tampons and then jumped into a pool.
Wanda’s “bad girl” reputation got her banned from many clubs, but she made it just fine, traveling the nation by bus and train, her long-sleeved, high-necked gowns neatly packed in dress bags.
Recently, though, Tampa was home. That’s where Wanda, 44, was Tuesday night — cooking dinner for a friend — when she heard a knock on the door.
Wanda opened it, and was shot to death. Police have not named any suspects. She may have been an unintended victim, Fox 13 news in Tampa reported.
On Wednesday, shocked friends mourned a diva who may have had a prickly personality but was loyal to her friends.