Number 13- Rest In Power Riah Milton

On the same day that Dominique Fells' body was discovered in Philadelphia, another trans person was being murdered in southern Ohio.

She is 25 year old Riah Milton of Cincinnati.   Her body was found shot to death early Tuesday morning in the 6600 block of Spruce Creek Drive in Liberty Township, OH, 20 miles north of Cincinnati.

A man called 911 early Tuesday morning to report he'd heard two or three gunshots in the cul de sac of his subdivision.  Police investigators who responded to the call found Milton's body a short time later.

There have been arrests made in this case.  Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones announced on Wednesday morning the arrest of two people and the issuance of a felony arrest warrant for a third person. 

The persons arrested were 18 year old Kaleb Marshall Tooson and an unnamed 14 year old juvenile girl.   The paid lured Milton to the area with the intent of robbing her but shot her instead. 

Tooson faces charges of murder and aggravated robbery, while the 14 year old was charged with complicity to murder, complicity to aggravated robbery and tampering with evidence. 

The third person in this case, identified by Sheriff Jones as Tyree Jeffrey Cross of Cincinnati, is wanted for complicity to murder, complicity to aggravated robbery and unlawful sexual contact with a minor.

Milton unfortunately is the 13th trans person killed in 2020., and the eight under ago 30 this year/    Here's hoping that these peeps responsible for her death do lots of time for the crime they committed.

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. 

2018 US Trans Murder Stats- October

We are a few weeks away from the 2018 TDOR, and as many of you are aware of, I have been keeping track of the trans people we have lost to anti-trans violence since New Year's Day and we first heard about Christa Leigh Steele Knudslein's death. 

As of this writing, 22 people have died in the US due to anti-trans violence since January 1.   This list may get longer between now and New Year's Eve

But here are the stats, tracked from January 1 to now.

2018 Trans Murders

Christa Lee Steele-Knudslien, 47, North Adams, MA
Vickky Gutierrez, 38, Los Angeles, CA
Zakaria Fry, 28,  Albuquerque, NM
Celine Walker, 38,  Jacksonville, FL
Tonya Harvey, 35, Buffalo, NY

Phylicia Mitchell, 45, Cleveland, OH
Amia Tyrae Berryman, 28, Baton Rouge, LA
Sasha Wall, 29, Chesterfield County, SC  
Carla Patricia Flores-Pavon, 26, Dallas, TX
Nino Fortson, 36, Atlanta, GA
Gigi Pierce, 28,  Portland, OR
Antasha English, 38, Jacksonville, FL
Diamond Stephens, 39, Meridian, MS

Catalina Christina James, 24, Jacksonville, FL
Keisha James, 58, Cleveland, OH
Sasha Garden, 27, Orlando, FL
Vontashia Bell, 18, Shreveport, LA
Dejanay Stanton, 24, Chicago, IL
Shantee Tucker, 30, Philadelphia, PA
Londonn Moore Kinard, 20, North Port, FL
Nikki Janelle Enriquez, 28, Laredo, TX Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier, 31, Chicago, IL 2018 Trans Murders Stats Breakdown
Female 20-Male/GNC 1)

By Race
White-3   (3 female-0 male)
Latina-3   (3 female-0 male)
Black -16  (15 female-1 male/GNC)
Asian-0
Native American- 0

By Age
50+  1
40-49  2

30-39  8
20-29  10
10-19- 1

Florida is in 2018 the deadliest state for trans peeps, with five confirmed murders this year.  Three of them occurred in Jacksonville, FL.

Louisiana  (Baton Rouge and Shreveport), Illinois, (both in Chicago), Ohio  (both in Cleveland)  and Texas (Dallas and Laredo) have two each.