Polish national Daria Pionko, 21, was found in Springwell Road, Holbeck, at about 01:30 GMT on Wednesday.
Police said Miss Pionko, who had been living in Leeds, was a sex worker. She was taken to hospital for treatment, but died a short time later.
A 38-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident.
Miss Pionko had been found unconscious with injuries consistent with an assault, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers found her in a defined managed area where sex workers operate during set hours, the force said.
The force appealed for witnesses to come forward and in particular anyone who was in the Springwell Road area between 20:00 Tuesday and about 01:30 Wednesday.

3 November 2014 Last updated at 08:42 GMT
Air safety investigators say the device, designed to slow down the craft, activated at the wrong time without a command from the pilots.
But they say it's too soon to determine the exact cause of the crash and it may take as long as a year to carry out the investigation.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip Two, crashed during a test run over the desert in California.
One pilot was killed and another is recovering in hospital.
Virgin Galactic had aimed to send tourists into space early next year, and has already taken more than 700 flight bookings costing more than Â£156,000 each.
A woman who died after being found seriously injured in Leeds, sparking a murder inquiry, has been named by police.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
An investigation into what caused a spacecraft to crash, has said that a safety device activating at the wrong time, could have been the reason.