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. 

2020 Trans Murders List- Midyear Review

With us passing June 1 in a so far crazy 2020, one thing that hasn't changed is that trans folks are still getting murdered despite a raging pandemic and a fascist racist in the recently fortified White House.

It actually started on New Year's Day with the murder of Dustin Parker, and we have literally had at least one murder every month in 2020.   The trans murder spike in Puerto Rico is majorly concerning, with five people being killed there.   

This is the list so far of trans persons killed in 2020.   I follow the standards of the Remembering Our Dead Project created by Gwen Smith in 1998, which seeks to count the trans peeps who have been murdered.

Suicides are not counted because frankly, they aren't murders, and there is the element of self choice involved     People who are killed by police, as Tony McDade was aren't counted unless the officer involved is charged with their murder. 

Tony McDade, 38, Tallahassee, FL 
(addition pending charging of cops involved for murder)  Tony will be added once someone is charged with his murder., and with reports that he was misgendered by the cops before he was shot, that's possible. But not enough for me under the ROD Project standards to consider it a murder.
This is a job that I took on because we must know exactly how many people are dying.   We also need to do it so that our people aren't disrespected in the media in death as they were while they were alive. 

I also want to not only preserve the history for future generations, I also want to see justice done for our trans siblings we have lost to this senseless violence. .  
And now, the 2020 Trans Murders List 

Dustin Parker, 25    McAlester, OK Neulisa Alexa Luciana Ruiz, 29, Toa Baja, PR
Yampi Mendez Arocha,19   Moca, PR

Monika Diamond, 34  Charlotte, NC
Lexi. 33, Harlem, NY
Johanna Metzger, 25  Baltimore, MD
Selena Angelique Velazquez Ramos. 32,  Humacao, PR
Layla Pelaez Sanchez, 21, Humacao,PR 
Penelope Diaz Ramirez, 31  Bayamon, PR  
Nina Pop, 28,  Sikeston, MO
Hallie Jae O’Regan, 20, San Antonio, TX  

Stats Breakdown
Female- 9
Male- 2   

Age
0-19 - 1
20-29- 6

30-39- 4
40-49
50-59

Race-Ethnicity
White- 3
Black-  3
Latinx- 5
Asian-American/Pacific Islander Rest in power with the transcestors.  .

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.. 
 

2018 US Trans Murders- Updated List

Here's hoping that 2018 comes to an end at 11:59 PM on December 31 with no more addition to this list that has been compiled from January 1-December 31. 

We needed a list in which we actually counted people killed during a calendar year from January 1 to December 31 and not from TDOR to the next TDOR.

And here we are.   24 lives needlessly snuffed out before they could reach their full potential  It's past time for one of these murderers of trans people to get the death penalty for doing so.

As long as they feel they'll get a slap on the wrist or nobody will care about a dead trans person , they'll keep doing it.   I do, because trans lives matter.just as much as you cis ones to all who loved the people who have prematurely joined the ancestors

2018 US 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
Tydie Dansbury, 37, Baltimore, MD
Keanna Mattel,(Kelly Stough)  35, Detroit, MI

2018 Trans Murders Stats Breakdown
Female 23-Male/GNC 1)

By Race
White-3   (3 female-0 male)
Latina-3   (3 female-0 male)
Black -18  (17 female-1 male/GNC)
Asian- 0
Native American- 0

By Age

50+  1
40-49  2

30-39  10
20-29  10
10-19- 1

May they all rest in power in peace, and may the wastes of DNA who took their lives be caught, prosecuted and and incarcerated . . 

Ebony Morgan's Killer Found Guilty

Justice has been served in the Ebony Morgan case.

23 year old Kenneth Kelley. Jr pled guilty to second degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony in the July 2 murder of Morgan in Lynchburg, VA. 

Kelley fled the Lynchburg area and headed to Baltimore after fatally shooting Morgan, and was found at his mother's house a few days later.

He accepted a plea deal, and was sentenced to 40 years for the murder and 3 years fo the firearm charge.  23 years of the sentence was suspended by the judge for good behavior. 

According to Lynchburg Commonwealth's Attorney Bethany Harrison, Kelley will be spending the next 20 years in state prison for the crime.

Morgan's mother told a local news station that the sentence gives her some closure and she can sleep at night.

And another on of the people who took one of our sister's lives will be going to jail for it, even if it isn't as long as we as a community would like it to happen.

Why Only 20 Trans Murders?

I've gotten questions as to why in my 2017 tracking of anti- trans murders on TransGriot, I have only counted 20 people killed.    I've also gotten questions from people who want to argue the point about Kashmire  Redd being the first trans masculine person killed in 2017

I know the original founder of the Remembering our Dead list in Gwen Smith, and I use her standards for tracking anti-trans murders. 

I'm also striving for accuracy as I compile this list of our fallen trans siblings since I'm quite aware that I'm followed by more than a few media outlets

One of the things we don't count in the overall total is police involved shootings.  Unless the police officer in question is indicted for murder, I can't legitimately consider that trans person's death via a police confrontation as a trans bias motivated murder.

It's why I don't count Sean Hake and Kiwi Herring's deaths in this year's trans statistics.   That's a separate issue with many variables in it.  . 

As per the Remembering Our Dead list standards, neither do I count suicides in my TransGriot  Remembering Our Dead count.  This may sound harsh, but a person who has committed suicide took their own life. A person who is murdered had their life snuffed out by another person or persons.

Suicide is also another separate issue with many variables, and shouldn't be lumped in with people who were murdered.  Neither should the folks who died via police involvement

Also, another mistake I see on the other lists that is a serious irritant to me is in Brenda Bostick being listed as Kenneth Bostick.

Brenda Bostick was trans feminine.  The New York City coroner who performed the autopsy on Ms. Bostick found breasts and a penis, so translation, she is TRANS FEMININE.

So please stop disrespecting Ms Bostick by listing her with a masculine name and correct your lists ASAP.

Another issue that has cropped up is Josie Berrios, who was murdered in Ithaca, NY  also went by the name of Kendra Marie Adams.    I've seen two lists that have listed BOTH names as if they were two separate people.   Nope, that's not the case.

I repeat, accuracy and consistency is important when we are compiling this list on people we memorialize for losing their lives due to anti-trans violence.   The Remembering our Dead list has met that test since 1999, and it's why I use their standards in reporting anti-trans murders on my blog.

That being said, here are the 20 people we have lost so far to anti-trans murders in the US.

***

Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow, 28, Sioux Falls, SD
Mesha Caldwell, 41, Canton, MS
Jojo Striker, 23  Toledo, OH
Jaquarrius Holland, 18   Monroe, LA
Keke Collier, 24, Chicago, IL
Chyna Gibson, 31, New Orleans, LA
Ciara McElveen, 26, New Orleans, LA
Alphonza Watson, 38, Baltimore, MD
Chay Reed, 28, Miami, FL
Brenda Bostick, 59, New York, NY
Sherrell Faulkner, 46, Charlotte, NC
Kenne McFadden, 27, San Antonio, TX
Josie Berrios, 28, Ithaca, NY
Ava Le'Ray Barrin, 17, Athens, GA
Ebony Morgan, 28, Lynchburg, VA
Tee Tee Dangerfield, 32, College Park, GA
Gwenevere River Song,  26, Waxahachie, TX
Kashmire Redd, 28, Gates, NY
Derricka Banner, 28, Charlotte, NC
Ally Steinfeld, 17  Cabool, MO 

So far in 2017 we have lost 16 Black trans people, 1 Native American, 1 Latina, and 2 White
15 of the 16 Black trans people we have lost in 2017 have been trans feminine, 1 trans masculine. 

Breaking it down by age, 3 have been in their teens, 11 in their 20's,  3 in their 30's, 2 in their 40's and one in their 50's. 

 

Now There Are Nine - Rest In Power And Peace, Chay

We've lost another Black trans woman to anti-trans violence, and as you probably guessed, she  was misgendered by the media. 

The location for the ninth US trans murder this year is Miami, FL and it happened at approximately 5 AM EDT this morning according to a witness.  

28 year old Chayvis 'Chay' Darice Reed according to this witness was walking with a group along Northwest 27th Street and Northwest 93rd Street in the West Little River neighborhood.  The witness stated that one person ran across the street, six or seven gunshots subsequently rang out and a person fell to the ground.  

The shooter fled the scene and has not been located at this time.  The witness has home surveillance footage which is being reviewed by Miami-Dade police detectives. 

Chay is the ninth transperson of color killed in 2017, and the eighth Black trans woman this year.  
Of the eight Black trans women killed this year, sadly seven of them have been under age 40.

If you have information concerning Chay's murder that will help capture the perpetrator of it, you are urged to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477)

If I hear of a memorial service for Chay, will pass along those detail as I receive them.

Dee Dee Watters will also be hosting a moment of silence in Chay's honor starting at 9 PM CDT this evening on her Facebook page.

Rest in power and peace, Chay.  Your trans family will not rest until the waste of DNA who killed you is rotting in a jail cell.

Accuracy Matters When We're Discussing Trans Murders

As much of the country is aware of, we have now had eight trans women murdered due to anti-trans violence.   We know that seven of the eight were Black, and one was native American.  We also know all of them were under age 40.

But we have some people in Trans World who wish to count a trans man who died as a result of a police incident as a murder when it wasn't.   We also have people that wish to include folks who have committed suicides.

No to both of those, and here's why.

First of all, the trans man in question, Sean Hake wasn't murdered.   It was a police domestic disturbance situation that ended with a weapon being discharged and Hake dying as a result of it.   It wasn't a murder, and it's disrespectful to the memory of the eight women who have had their lives taken from us in 2017 to call it that.

Not all suicides involving trans people a result of anti-trans violence.  The reasons for a person committing suicide are as varied as the person committing it and them leaving a note behind explaining why they did so.  .

As someone who has been tracking trans murders for over a decade, accuracy in how we talk about these cases matters.  Now that we're finally getting some media attention concerning the issues of anti-trans violence, we cannot afford to be perceived as fudging or inflating the numbers with cases that clearly aren't murders..

Accuracy matters when we're telling the story about our trans siblings murders.  It's even more important to be accurate about it because the victims are predominately people of color, and we're dealing with a media that is predominately made up of cisgender white people .    .

The numbers alone are horrific enough.   We don't need to cast doubt on them by calling a police incident an anti-trans murder when it isn't, or claiming suicides are 'anti-trans violence'

Rest In Power and Peace Jazz Alford

Once again it's my sad duty to report we have lost another trans woman to anti-transgender violence.

The latest sister to prematurely join the ancestors is 30 year old Jazz Alford.  The High Point, North Carolina resident was found on the floor of her second floor motel room shot to death by the housekeeping staff at the Kings Inn in Birmingham, AL on September 23.

As you probably guessed, the local media not only misgendered her in the initial reporting of the killing, but dead named her on top of it.

"She was such a loving person and we didn't know anybody who would want to kill her," said Toya Milan, Alford's sister who also happens to be a girl like us.

The Alford case was followed up by a 24 year old trans woman in the eastern Birmingham suburb of Homewood, AL being shot in the face October 3 during a home invasion robbery.  The trans woman in that case is still at UAB Hospital, and she is recovering from her injuries at this time.

23 year old Denzell Thomas was arrested and charged with attempted murder and first degree robbery in the home invasion robbery case.   He is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on $200,000 bond and being questioned by investigators as a person of interest in the Alford slaying.

Alford's death now makes this the 22nd trans person slain in 2016.  This also makes 2016 the deadliest year ever for US trans murders.  It also keeps up the infuriating to me patterns of the majority of the victims being African American trans women, but being under age 40.

And yes, I blame the anti-trans rhetoric deliberately being thrown around by the Republicans for their political gain for the escalation of anti-trans violence.

I also have to ask the question when Black community, will our Black trans lives matter to you as much as cis Black ones do?

Rest in power and peace, Jazz.  Your life was taken far too soon from those of us who loved you, and we will not rest until the person who took your life is brought to justice.

Two More USA Trans Women Lost In 2016

Once again, it's my sad duty to report that we have lost two more trans women, one in Maine, and one in Chicago which brings the death toll this year up to 20 with three months to go.

43 year old Lexxi Sironen's body was found floating in the Kennebec River on September 6 at 8:15 AM EDT near the water reservoir of the Brookfield Power Facility.   She was from Waterville, ME, lived along the riverbank and was associating with other transient people in the area.

Friends of Sironen think that foul play was involved in her death, and while an autopsy on the body has been done by the state medical examiner, the cause of death has yet to be announced.

There will be a memorial service held for Sironen on September 18 at 12:00 PM.

Waterville police are still investigating, and if you have information that will help solve this case, please call Waterville Police Detective David Caron at 680-4700.

I'm also tired of the mugshot being used instead of this pic I found on her memorial website.

In Chicago, the body of a 26 or 27 year old Black trans woman known as T.T. to all who loved her on Chicago's West Side was found with her throat slit in West Grant Park and the knife nearby on Sunday night.   Ironically T.T's body was found a mere two blocks from the spot where Paige Clay's body was found in 2012.

T.T was pronounced dead at the scene, and was misgendered by the Chicago Police Department, the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune when they first reported the case.  It took subsequent reporting from the Windy City Times to correct the police and media misgendering.

There was a vigil held for T.T yesterday at the corner of Monroe and Kenton Streets in which a friend of T.T's named Jaliyah Armstrong stated that T.T had an altercation with another trans woman three days before she was found dead and that person threatened to kill her.

Hmm CPD, sounds like a lead in this case to me.

The Windy City Times in a 2015 investigative report by Gretchen Hammond documented the CPD's problems with misgendering trans people, but it's obvious that they still refuse to learn anything.

The investigation into T.T.'s death by the CPD is an ongoing one, but the local trans community is pessimistic that it will result in the arrest and prosecution of her killer.

If you have information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of T.T's killer, call Cook County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-535-STOP

Rest in power and in peace Lexxi and T.T.

Two People Arrested In Maya Young Murder Case

That was fast.   Two people have been arrested by Philadelphia PD in connection with the fatal stabbing death of Maya Young.

19 year old Jose Pena and 24 year old Tiffany Floyd  were arrested this week and charged with murder and conspiracy in Young's death.

Floyd was denied bail and is being held pending her scheduled March 16 hearing at 9 AM in Room 306 of the Criminal Justice Center.

Pena was also denied bail, but is being held in a juvenile facility.   His hearing is scheduled at 9 AM in Room 306 of the Criminal Justice Center on March 23.   In case you Philly area peeps wish to witness the proceedings in either case, the Criminal Justice Center is located at 1301 Filbert St.

Will be checking on this case to see if our fallen sister receives justice .