Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Number 21-Rest In Power Keisha

Kiesha Jenkins, 22, of North Philadelphia. (Facebook)
We have lost another Black trans woman, and it happened in Philadelphia.

22 year old Keisha Jenkins was ambushed and beaten by five to six males as she got out of a car in North Philadelphia at 13th and Wingohocking Streets early Tuesday morning at 2:30 AM EDT.   One of the males then pulled out a gun and shot Jenkins twice in the back.

Jenkins was taken to Einstein Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.  As of yet there has been no arrest in the case..

Nellie Fitzpatrick, Mayor Nutter's LGBT community liaison, called Jenkins' death "a tremendous and tragic loss for the entire city, our LGBT community, and, more specifically, our trans community."

"This type of wicked, inhumane violence just has no place here," Fitzpatrick said. "We can't take anymore. It's just too much."

Jenkins is the 21st American trans woman killed in 2015, the 16th Black trans woman, the second killed in Philadelphia, and the 11th under age 40, and I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of reciting these stats.

When will our #BlackLivesMatter, Black community?   When will #BlackTransLivesMatter?  When will it NOT be okay to indiscriminately kill a Black trans woman?  

And I'm tired along with everyone in Black Trans World of repeatedly asking those questions.

When I receive information about her homegoing services, I'll pass them along to you folks in the Philadelphia metro area who may wish to attend them and pay your respects.

Speaking of information, the Philadelphia PD needs it to help solve this case.

Anyone with any information on the killing is asked to call the PPD homicide unit at 215-686-3334 and 215-686-3335, or the department's anonymous tip line at 215-686-TIPS.

Stay tuned to these TransGriot pages for updated news about this latest trans sister who has been brutally taken away from us.  

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