Crystal Edmonds of Baltimore was walking on a sidewalk in Northwest Baltimore in the wee hours Friday morning when someone walked up behind her and shot her in the back of her head.
She was found on that sidewalk and rushed to a hospital, but she died Friday afternoon.
The 32-year-old Edmonds was a transgender woman.
I guess all portents indicated my first essay upon returning from a bout of sickness would concern some death. The Lady Chablis died. Alexis Arquette.
But we're left to believe those were from natural causes. Chablis died after a month in a hospital fighting pneumonia. Alexis was in a coma at Cedars Sinai for four days before passing while listening to David Bowie's Starman.
Erykha Tijerina, to be more precise. She was not a man named Eric in a dress as described by ABC El Paso affiliate KIVA.
Erykha was 36. She was found dead in her apartment on August 8.
Around 8am Saturday morning the owner of Ecclesiastic Granite Fab discovered the body of Skye Mockabee in his parking lot in Cleveland's Puritas-Longmead neighborhood.
The 26-year-old Mockabee was declared dead at 8:30 after EMS, firefighters and police arrived at the scene. The police report said the body was lying face-down next to a tow truck with blood coming out of her mouth. The police report also described the victim as a man. On Monday the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office deadnamed Mockabee.
Dee Whigham was a 25-year-old RN from Shubata, MS. Whigham worked at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Dee Whigham as they try to make sense of this terrible tragedy. She will be remembered at Forrest Health as an excellent nurse who was well-loved by her patients. I know Dee will be missed by her co-workers, supervisors, and the Forrest Health family.
--Evan Dillard, Forrest Health
Deeniquia (Dee Dee) Dodds was a transgender woman living in NE Washington, DC. She was shot in the neck on July 4. She was on life support at Prince George's Hospital Center until she died on Wednesday. Then DC police finally issued a press release Thursday morning.
The press release marked the first time D.C. police have publicly disclosed the victim had been shot 10 days earlier. The decision not to publicly disclose the shooting at the time it happened has raised concern among trans activists.
Similar to a police incident report prepared at the time of the shooting, the press release identifies the victim by her male birth name and doesn’t disclose that she was trans. However, unlike the incident report, the press release identifies an “AKA” name [Also Known As] for the victim as Deeniqua Dodds.
Ten days ago a charred body was found in a burned out car in New Orleans East (The 9th Ward). That body has now been identified as Devin Diamond. The Nola Coroner's Office has classified the death as a homicide. The victim was beaten to death before the car was torched.
Although described as a male by the Coroner's Office, further investigation reveals that Devin had begun transition.
George Melichar, who knew Diamond through a French Quarter retail job, said the two had a conversation on the subject several months ago.
When I asked her if she identified as a man or a woman, she told me that she would answer to both. But being that she was transitioning, I felt that it was the best to refer to her as a woman, and she agreed.
Devin was very loved, and Devin was very kind. And that's what makes this more difficult. In addition to losing a friend, we lost an LGBT leader.
--Melichar
Amos Beede, 38, was a homeless transgender man residing (if, in fact, a homeless man can be said to reside anywhere) in Vermont. Amos was found on the ground near a homeless encampment, unconscious, on May 23.
Beede suffered head trauma, including facial fractures, multiple blunt force injuries to his face and head and a number of broke ribs, police said. He had been diagnosed with bleeding on the brain known as a subdural hematoma.
Reecey Walker, a 32 year-old transgender woman of color, was stabbed to death by a 16 year-old boy in Wichita on Sunday. The suspect is facing a charge of second-degree murder.
Police both dead-named and misgendered Walker, even though friends and family identified her as a transgender woman.
The suspect's family is alleging that Walker was attempting to sexually assault the teen. That's what happens when government officials paint us as sexual predators.
Keyonna Blakeney, 22, was found dead in a room of the Red Roof Inn Saturday morning. She had suffered severe trauma to her upper body. Police classified her death as a homicide.
Police were also very quick to suggest that Keyonna may have been working as a prostitute and to release her arrest history.
