Number 14- Rest In Power Selena Reyes Hernandez

She is the sixth Latinx transperson to die in 2020 and the 14th transperson this year, but I'm just now finding out about this May 31 murder because of misgendering of her by the Chicago medical examiner, Chicago PD and the Chicago media

Even her family went there in disrespecting her in death, choosing to bury her in her native Mexico under her deadname.

The murder also took place on one of the deadliest days in Chicago in 60 years, with 18 people being killed in a 24 hour period.

37 year old Selena Reyes Hernandez was seen with 18 year old Orlando Perez, who lived several blocks away from her, entering her Marquette Park area home around 5:30 AM CDT. 

Perez told investigators when he asked if Reyes Hernandez was a girl, she told him he was trans.  He told her he had to leave, and returned 20 minutes later at 6 AM according to surveillance cameras armed and with a dark face covering.    He is shown on surveillance cameras pulling out a handgun, racking the slide and hopping the fence to Reyes Hernandez's home in the 3300 block of West 71st Street

He discovered the door was open, walked in and shot Reyes Hernandez in the head and back before running out of her home. 

Perez thought would be enough to kill her, but was so transphobically angry he returned to shoot her several more times as her body was on the floor.   Her body was found by someone who heard loud noises later that morning.

Perez was arrested, and the gun with the same type of bullets used to kill Reyes Hernandez was found in his Marquette Park home.   Multiple video camera show him going back and forth to the scene of the crime.

Perez is being held in the Cook County jail with no bail.   His next court date is on July 6.   Prior to killing Reyes Hernandez, he had no criminal history, but has sadly let transphobia ruin his young life.

And if he's thinking about trying to use the trans panic defense in an attempt to get off or get his sentenced reduced, not gonna happen.  Illinois is one of the states that bans it.

Rest in power, Selena.   Your Chicago trans fam is not going to rest until you receive justice.  Hopefully someone also has a photo of her as she lived her all too brief life.


TransGriot Note: Thanks to Elizabeth Rivera for finding and sending me the photo of Selena that graces this post. 

Number 12- Rest In Power Dominique Rem'mie Fells

Figures that literally the day after I posted that 2020 trans murders midyear review article, another trans person was killed.

We head to Philadelphia for the latest trans murder in the person of 27 year old Dominique Fells. 

The delay in reporting Fells' death is due in large part to media misgendering of her.  The initial reports on Philadelphia TV station ABC6 and other Philadelphia media outlets misgendered Fells.

It took The Morris Home, a local recovery residence for trans and gender non conforming people recognized her as one of their residents to end the disrespect of being media misgendered.

Her body was found June 9 on the banks of the Schuylkill River in the 3500 block of Schuylkill Avenue near Bartram's Garden.   In addition to having her legs severed in the upper thigh area in a manner that indicates a train may have cut them, she had sustained injuries to her head and face.

Her legs have not been recovered at the scene where her body was recovered or anywhere else in the Philadelphia area so far, and the coroner as I'm writing this hasn't determined the official cause of her death.

It is however being ruled as a homicide

The Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs, which is currently headed by Black trans woman Celena Morrison, released this statement concerning the death of Fells.

 “As thousands take to the streets to proclaim that Black Lives Matter, it is critical we remember that this includes Black trans lives. Dominique Rem’mie Fells’ life mattered. We are reminded with this, and countless other painful losses — especially within our transgender communities — that there is much left to do until we achieve full equality, respect, and support for us all. The murder of transgender people — especially those of color — is truly an epidemic and a crisis that we cannot afford to allow to persist any further. Let us uplift her memory together.”

Fells is now the 12th person we have lost to anti-trans violence in 2020, and the fourth African American trans person this year.     She's also the seventh under age 30 that we have lost in 2020 to anti-trans violence.

Here's also hoping the the perpetrators of this crime are found and swiftly brought to justice. 

Number 2- Rest In Power Alexa Ruiz

While it has been queit since New Year's Day in terms of trans people being killed in 2020, in the years I have been tracking anti-trans deaths here in the US,  there has always seemed to be been somewhat of a lull in the early winter months of January and February before the numbers start exploding as the weather gets warmer. 

I've also been marveling at the streak the Latinas had been on in whch they had gone nearly 15th  months since I last wrote about a Latina trans woman being murdered.   

September 18, 2018 was the last time that happened on this blog, when Nikki Enriquez was killed in Laredo, TX  by the ex Border Patrol serial killer Juan David Oritiz. 

Ortiz is still in jail awaiting trial for her murder and the murders of three other women that occured between September 14-15, 2018. 

While the trans Latina community has had  some close calls, including the shooting of Daniela Calderon in Dallas back in October,  I worried that it was only a matter of time before their remarkle luck ran out.

And the circumstances of this second anti-trans murder of 2020 are frankly pissing me off.

We go to Puetro Rico for the latesr trans murder.    Her name was Neulisa Luciano Ruiz, better known as Alexa,  was shot and killed early Monday morning in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico  mere hours after someone called the po-po on her for using the women's restroom at a McDonald's.

We still don't know her age yet,  but the perps of this latest hate crime are alleged to be four teenagers. who videotaped themselves doing so.   Here body was found at approximately 3:50 AM local time.   No  one has claimed her body as of this writing.   

But let me say this about the latest murder

Going to the bathroom while trans shouldn't be an effing death sentence. But anti-trans hate thoughts + anti-trans hate speech = anti-trans hate murders.

Alexa Ruiz was homeless. She didn't get the chance to get the help she needed to get out of that situation because somebody killed her in Toa Baja, PR yesterday. .

That ended a remarkable streak in which the US based Latina trans community had gone since September 2018 (Nikki Enriquez, Laredo, TX) ,without having someone murdered.

While they have had some close calls, with Daniela Calderon in Dallas being the most recent example, who survived after being shot at point blank range six times at a bus stop, this senseless death is marjorly pissing me off.

The most vulnerable among us sadly will pay the price for the anti-trans posturing of Republican politicans, TERFs, evilgelicals and transphobic Roman Catholic Church officials, and conservafool media.

Alexa's blood is on their hands, not that they really care. It's also on the hands of the transphobe that made the call on her for simply using the damn bathroom

They are all working in concert to make the lives of trans people here and around the world hell for their own nefarious purposes.

Alexa Ruiz shouldn't have died for simply using the bathroom at a McDonalds. But because some transphobic fool called the cops on her, that's the result.

Rest in power and peace Alexa May the fools who committed this crime be swifrly caught.

And oh yeah,  Let my people pee in peace.  .

How I Count The Trans Murders

The number of murdered trans folks in 2020 has been holding steady so far at one since New Year's Day.  But I expect that number to quickly rise once winter gives way to spring and summer and the temps rise.

People have asked me what are the parameters I use to count trans deaths, so here they are. 

*I use the standards of the Remembering our Dead Web Project as created by Gwen Smith.   If you report a person as having been killed to me, I will need a link to at least one or two local news media stories confirming that the person was killed.   Will need a link to their Facebook page if known as well so that I can have a nice pic of the person to use while telling their story instead of a mug shot.

 
*I count from 12:00 AM January 1 to 11:59 PM on December 31 in the same calendar year.  I don't count from TDOR to TDOR.  We need to know how many people have been killed in a calendar year so we can have those hard numbers.

*I don't include suicides.   A person who commits suicide has made a choice about taking their life.   Someone who is murdered doesn't have the element of choice.  The perpetrator of the anti-trans violence made that choice to end their life for them. 

Trans suicide, while important to talk about, is a wholly separate issue from trans people who have been violently taken from us.   Suicides should not be lumped in with TDOR murder stats.

*If someone has been killed while in prison or ICE custody, unless someone in that prison or ICE has been charged with murder, I can't for journalistic reasons count it in the yearly stats. 

Same rationale for someone killed by a police officer.   Unless that officer is charged with murder, can't count it as a trans murder no matter how much we suspect that's exactly what happened.

*I'm focusing on counting the trans deaths in the United States.   There are other orgs tracking the deaths in Europe, Latin America, Asia and other parts of the world like Transgender Europe (TGEU)  and OutRight Action International. 

Facts are what matter.   I am striving for accuracy when I compile these counts on these TransGriot pages.   As a member of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) I'm also doing my utmost to follow the journalistic standards of these organizations I am a proud member of.   

It's even more important now I'm finding myself doing more local and national print and television interviews to talk about the anti-trans violence that's killing us.  I also don't want our right wing opposition or TERFs trying to claim we're padding the counts.

If someone is arrested after the commisison of one of these murders aginst our siblings, the average time from an arrest to trial is about two years.   With the avalanche of cases happening and my limited bandwith to keep track of it all, I am asking for help from you TransGriot readers to let me know when these trans killers in your areas of the country come to trial. 

I want to know if the killers have been found guilty, and if so, how much time did they get when they were sentenced.

So with so many cases happening, I will need a reminder from you, TransGriot readers if you see news of a a trans murderer going to trial .

So these are the guidelines I use to track trans murders.  I hope and pray I won't be as busy as I have been the last few years documenting these cases, but we still have a lot of 2020 left, a raving transphobe in the White House, conservative media going buck wild in sprading transphobic BS, and Republican lawmakers in the US trying to pass unjust anti-trans bills.

So while I'm hoping for the best, I'm mentally prepared to expect another bad year on the trans murder front.. 
 

Number 1- Rest In Power Dustin Parker

Damn, the confetti wasn't even swept up off of the streets in New York's Times Square before the news broke that we have already lost a trans person in 2020 to violence.

We head to McAlester, OK for the news concerning 25 year old Dustin Parker.   His body was found in the drivers seat of his Rover electric Taxi at 6:30 AM CST on New Years Day in the 200 block of West Delaware Avenue.   The vehicle had been hit by multiple gunshots and he was deceased when police arrived at the scene. 

Investigators recovered shell casings at the scene, and interviewed people in the area who head gunshots, but dismissed it as celebratory gunfire until McAlester PD cars started arriving on the scene. 

Parker leaves behind his wife Regina and four children.   He was a founding member of Oklahomans For Equality.   His employer, Rover Taxi, has set up a Facebook fundraising page to help benefit Parker's family.

“Rover Taxi is devastated at the loss of a member of our Rover family,” said Rover Taxi owner Brian West in a post on its site.   Parker served as a manager for the company.

“Dustin was a steadfast friend, an amazing husband and father, and generous to a fault. He loved fiercely, worked tirelessly, and took on life with so much hope and enthusiasm that his presence brightened all of our lives. His bright, young life was taken far too early. Please keep his loved ones in your thoughts as we all try to pull together to get through these difficult times. Dustin will be missed, but never forgotten.”

As of this writing, there are no suspects in this case. Capt  Kevin Hearod of the McAlester Police Department stated that while there is as of yet no evidence that Parker was killed because he was trans, they are not taking that possibility off the table in terms of a possible motive.

"We've still got investigators out running down leads right now," Hearod said to the Tulsa World. "(Parker was) just a working man, making a living for his family, and he didn't get to come home."
No word as of yet concerning a memorial service.

Rest in power and peace Dustin.   You got to see the dawn of the 2020's, but unfortunately you will not see more of this new decade.   Pondering that thought pisses me off.  .   

Your trans sibs in Oklahoma and around the country will not rest until justice is served in your case. 

Number 24- Rest in Power Yahira Nesby

I was hoping we'd get through these last weeks of 2019 without any more murders.  Unfortunately that will not be the case.   We now go to Brooklyn, NY, where I was alerted to our latest trans murder by Nala Simone.

Her name is Yahira Nesby.

The 33 year old Nesby was shot yesterday (December 19) at approximately 4:20 PM EST in her Brooklyn apartment in the chest and leg.    A 39 year old male was found at the rear of her building on Rockaway Parkway with a leg injury indicative from falling from a heightened position. 

Nesby was declared dead at the scene.

That person was taken in for questioning, but at this time Nesby's murder is still being investigated by NYPD.   The male as of yet has not been considered as a person of interest in this ongoing investigation,.but was called her boyfriend in a NY Daily News story.

Nesby was a member of the House of Chanel, and was originally from North Carolina

She is now the 24th trans woman we have lost to violence this year, and the 22nd Black trans woman in 2019.

As of yet haven't heard about any vigils since this is still a developing story, but as soon as I hear of one or am alerted, I'll pass that info along. 

Rest in power and peace Yahira,

Number 23- Rest In Power Nikki Kuhnhausen

It turns out that the trans teen who went missing back in June is sadly now one of 23 trans people who we have lost in the US due to anti-trans violence.

17 year old Nikki Kuhnhausen went missing back on June 6 after setting up a meeting with 25 year old David Bogdanov.    She had conversing with him on Snapchat, and after setting up a June 5  meeting with him disappeared. 

Bogdanov was named as a person of interest in her disappearance, and admitted during an October interview with detectives that he and Nikki met, and during their conversation he discovered she was trans.   He said that was offensive to his culture and he asked her to get out of his van. 

Bogdanov claimed that Nikki walked away from his van and he never saw her again.

Nikki's remains were found on Larch Mountain in the remote northeastern part of Clark County, Washington on December 7. 

Bogdanov was arrested today by Vancouver police and charged with Kuhnhausen's murder, and his cell phone records according to detectives,  put him in the same remote area of northeastern Clark County on June 6 where Nikki's remains were found.

Bogdanov has been charged with second degree murder, and is being held without bail.   He will face his first appearance in Clark County Courthouse.

That makes Nikki the 23rd trans person we have lost to anti-trans violence, and the second trans teenager we've lost in 2019.  She is also the second White trans person who has been killed this year. .

Rest in power Nikki.  Your life was taken way too soon, and here's hoping that justice will be served in your case.

The 2019 US Trans Names

These are the names of the trans folks in the US who have been killed in this 2019 calendar year

Dana Martin, 31, Montgomery, AL
Ashanti Carmon, 27, Fairmount Heights, MD
Jazzaline Ware, 34, Memphis, TN
Muhlaysia Booker, 22, Dallas, TX
Michelle Washington, 40, Philadelphia, PA
Claire Legato, 21, Cleveland, OH
Paris Cameron, 20, Detroit, MI
Chynal Lindsey, 26, Dallas, TX
Chanel Scurlock, 23, Lumberton, NC
Zoe Spears, 23, Fairmount Heights, MD
Brooklyn Lindsey, 32, Kansas City, MO
Denali Berries Stuckey, 29, North Charleston, SC
Marquis Kiki Fantroy, 21, Miami, FL
Pebbles LaDime Doe, 24, Allendale, SC
Jordan Cofer, 22, Dayton, OH
Tracy Single Williams, 22, Houston TX
Bailey Reeves, 17, Baltimore, MD
Bee Love Slater, 23, Clewiston, FL
Ja'Leyah Jamar Berryman, 30, Kansas City, MO
Elisha Stanley, 46, Pittsburgh, PA
Itali Marlowe, 29, Houston, TX
Brianna BB Hill, 30, Kansas City, MO

22 names.   Four of them Texans, two each in Dallas and in my Houston hometown.  21 of them African American, and 15 of them under the ago of 30.

It needs to stop.   But it probably won't until the transphobic ignorance stops.  It probably won't stop until the Republican Party stops trying to use transphobic hatred to drive their deplorable voter base.

And it won stop until cis people recognize the humanity and human rights of trans people 

Houston To Hold Three TDOR 2019 Events Tomorrow

The 20th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance is being observed tomorrow on November 20 with events around the world. 

Here in Houston, we have three events scheduled on that day, and it's also particularly a sad occasion because four of the names on the 2019 list of US names we will read are Texans, and two will be Houstonians.

The three Houston TDOR events tomorrow are:

TransGiving hosted by Organizacion Latina de Trans en Texas (OLTT) and Ana Andrea Molina

"Remembering our sisters who were ahead of us this year and raising the voices of those who continue to resist".

It also serves as the annual Thanksgiving dinner hosted by OLTT, and will take place this year at  Bering Memorial UMC.   The address is 1427 Hawthorne St, and will commence at 6:30 PM.  Parking for this event will be in the rear of the church.  

A Transgender Day of Remembrance event hosted by Dee Dee Watters is also taking place on this date at St. Luke the Evangelist Episcopal Church.   It's the event I have been invited to participate in.

The church is on the southeastern edge of the Texas Southern University campus, and its address is 3530 Wheeler Ave.   The event starts at 7:00 PM

"We will #SayTheirNames we will remember them all while acknowledging ourselves (those of the trans lived experience)"

The third event is the Transgender Day of Remembrance one hosted by the Houston Transgender Unity Committee (HTUC).

"...offering a safe and affirming environment to share stories and talk about those we have lost"

The venue for this event will be Brasil Houston, located at 2604 Dunlavy St in the Montrose area that will also start at 7:00 PM. 

Hopefully you folks in H-town can make it to one of the three events of your choosing to honor the people we have lost to anti-trans violence here and around the world in 2019. 

The Nikki Araguz Loyd Celebration of Life Service

I was on the Left Coast when this happened, so for those of you who missed it like i did and wanted to be there, here's the celebration of Life Service that took place on November 14 for Nikki Araguz Loyd

Going To Miss You, Nikki Araguz Loyd

Ironic that  I find myself on the day that we're having the viewing of  Nikki's body back home, I am in San Francisco, 122 miles from where she was born in Carmel, CA.

The viewing of her body is happening today, with the service happening tomorrow at the Humble Civic Center.   And I'm a little bummed that due to a previous commitment I must miss it.

Our Houston community woke up a week ago to the shocking news that Nikki Araguz Loyd had passed away at age 44.   We still as of yet don't know the cause of death, but what I can tell you is that even a week later, it is still sending shockwaves through me and everyone else in the Houston activist community who knew her.

I got to meet her in July 2010, not long after I moved back to Houston and the media firestorm around her marriage case was blowing up.  We became friends after a road trip I took with her to the northern Houston 'burbs. a month later

As I watched her ultimately successful precedent setting marriage case unfold, our friendship grew.

She knew I tended to be a loner at times, so she would unexpectedly show up at my place to pull my behind away from my computer and out of the apartment to do road trips with her and her bestie Meagan Gillett.   She and Meagan took me out for my birthday one year, and I was also present for an epic Thanksgiving dinner in 2015 and several more of her epic parties.

When I had drama in my life,  she was there helping me navigate through it.  I was also in her attorney's office when she won her case, and we subsequently rolled over to the Harris County Civil Courthouse to watch the now fired Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart try a last ditch resistance of the Obergefell ruling.

She purchased the Lenovo laptop I currently use when I travel to events, and got me as a birthday present in 2015 my first smartphone.

She was also there to put her size 9 foot up my behind when I needed a motivational kick in the butt.

I got to meet many of the people in her circles like Meagan Gillett, Bryanna Cox, Denisse Acha, Cressandra Thibodeaux and countless others.   There were local trans advocates she also facilitated meetings with, supported and connected to each other.  She was connected to many national trans peeps as well like Jeanette and Jazz Jennings, Joanna Cifredo de Fellman, Angelica Ross and Geena Rocero just to name a few.

She was connected not only to our trans community,  but the HIV/AIDS one, and the Houston arts community.

Because Nikki transitioned in her teens, she was seen as a role model and shero to our trans kids, and she loved them back.

While she will always be remembered for the landmark 2015 trans marriage equality Araguz v Delgado case that took down the 2001 anti-trans Littleton v Prange precedent, she also helped us pass HERO in May 2014 by revealing a painful event in her own life. 

She helped people get their name and gender marker changes.  When we were spending all day at the Pink Dome waiting to testify against SB 6 in 2017, she and her hubby Will walked into the Texas Capitol building with 20 large pizzas to feed us.

Interestingly enough that while she was a kick butt advocate, she told me during a birthday dinner for me a few years ago that her initial goal after she transitioned was to simply be a wife and mother.

And she relished that role as well.   So well that she got elected as the PTA president at her daughter's middle school.

Nikki's life was short and way too brief for us, but it was one lived fabulously and well.  She always loved a good party, and is probably organizing a few of them with our transcestors now.

And yes diva, I'm going to miss you.

Nikki Araguz Loyd Celebration Of Life Service Dates

For those of you who haven't heard the news yet, Nikki Araguz Loyd passed away on November 6 at he suburban Houston home.  William Loyd and the family have announced when the services will happen.

On Wednesday November 13, the public viewing for Nikki Araguz Loyd will be held at Rosewood Funeral Home in Atascocita, TX from 5- 8 PM CST. 

The funeral home is located at 17404 W Lake Houston Pkwy in Atascocita.
The Celebration of Life Ceremony will take place on Thursday November 14 at the Humble Civic Center from 1-4 PM CST.   The Humble Civic Center is located at 8233 Will Clayton Pkwy in Humble, TX, 77338
Since Nikki always loved a good party, after the services there will be a fabulous Nikki style BYOB🍾 PARTY🍾 at Nectar.   There will be an open mic available to speak and allow you to share your best Nikki memories.

Nectar is located at 7560 FM 1960, in Humble, TX 77346

If you are thinking about flying into Houston for the viewing and service, IAH is the closest airport to that side of town where the events will take place, and there are plenty of hotels in the Humble-IAH area .

If you can attend,  please do so and say goodbye to a revered and iconic member of our community.

Transphobic Defense Attorney Andrew Wilkerson Found In Contempt Of Court

Had a feeling this was going to happen sometime during this Edward Thomas trial, and today was that day.

Thanks to reporter Dana Branham, who is tweeting this trial for the Dallas Morning News now in its second day,  we've learned that Andrew Wilkerson, the transphobic lead defense attorney for Edward Thomas, the person videotaped beating Muhlaysia Booker in that infamous viral video, went too far in his as he termed it "zealously, righteously, and fearlessly defending his client."

Before the trial started, he tried and thankfully failed to deploy the trans panic defense to get his client who is facing 20 years in prison a lighter sentence.

Wilkerson and Michael Campbell, the other defense attorney in this case, continued to misgender and deadname Booker.   Wilkerson also made the BS laden claim that Booker instigated the attack that left her with a concussion and a broken wrist by 'talking smack'

He also continued to argue with Judge Hector Garza, who warned his transphobic behind several times that he was going too far with his courtroom antics before Garza cleared the jurors out of the courtroom and found Wilkerson in contempt of court.

Wilkerson was sentenced to 14 days in jail and a $500 fine, and led out of the courtroom in handcuffs before testimony resumed in this case. 

Wilkerson is now in jail for the rest of this trial, and hopefully his client Edward Thomas will be joining him in the Dallas County Iron Bar Hilton soon.

TransGriot Update: Wilkerson was released from jail Friday on a personal recognizance bond 

Number 22- Rest In Power And Peace Brianna 'BB' Hill

Seems like as fast as I find out and get the details about one of my trans siblings being murdered, I'm having to sit down and write about another one.

We go back to Kansas City, MO for our latest trans murder.   

She is 30 year old Brianna 'BB' Hill.   She was shot  at 11:30 AM CDT on Monday October 14 near 43rd St and Hardesty Avenue in eastern Kansas City.    She died at the scene before police arrived and took the shooter into custody.

Hill is the third trans woman to die in Kansas City this year, the 21st African American trans woman, and the 22nd in the US in 2019.

The man who stands accused of shooting Hill waited for police to arrive, and and KCPD investigations are currently looking into the motive for this crime.

As of yet no word on whether any memorial service or vigils are being held there.   I'll pass that info along as I receive it.

Rest in power and peace, Brianna.   May justice be served in your case as well.

 

Number 21- Rest In Power Itali Marlowe

I am not happy to report that we have lost another trans woman in my Houston area backyard to anti-trans violence

She is 29 year old Itali Marlowe, and she was killed back on September 20 at 2 PM CDT on that date in the Ridgemont portion of Houston that extends into Fort Bend County. 

HPD offices responded to a shooting call at 15829 Ridgeroe Lane and found Marlowe when they arrive lying in the driveway of the residence.  She had been shot multiple times, and was transported to a nearby hospital where she subsequently was declared dead, according to the HPD press release.

Now for the stats.

Marlowe is the 20th Black trans woman to die due to anti-trans violence in the US this year and the second one in the Houston area in 2019.   She is also the fourth trans person killed in Texas this year and the 14th under age 30.

We have a suspect in this case.  23 year old Raymond Donald Williams has been charged with murder in this case by the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office. 

Williams was living with Marlowe, and was spotted fleeing on foot from the Ridgeroe Lane residence prior to the arrival of HPD officers.

 If you have information on his whereabouts, you are urged to call the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477)

Rest in Power, Itali   We won't rest until this perpetrator is caught, prosecuted, and incarcerated for your murder.

Number 18- Rest in Power Bee Love Slater

As I was literally finding out about the Labor Day murder of 17 year old Bailey Reeves in Baltimore, I was getting word about an even more disturbing one that happened in Clewiston, FL on September 4. 

23 year old Bee Love Slater was found inside her burning car outside the town of Clewiston, FL.  Her burned beyond recognition body was  only identified through her dental records.   

Hendry County investigators have stated it is one of the most brutal murders they have seen yet.

Friends of Bee also stated to local media that she was in fear of her life and getting a lot of cyber bullying prior to her death.

A vigil for Slater was also held in Pahokee, FL where she lived.

Let's get the stats out of the way.   Slater is the 18th trans person we have lost to anti trans violence in 2019.   She is the 17th African American one, and more infuriating to me, the 12th under age 30 that we have lost.

If you have any information that will lead to the capture and incarceration of the wastes of DNA who killed Bee, you are urged to call the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office at 863-674-5600 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477).

Rest in power and peace, Bee.  We won't rest until the persons who killed you are captured and justice is served in your case.