Black
transgender woman Dede Ricks, 33, was shot to death last Saturday in Detroit.
Ricks was the
second Black trans woman to die by violence in the city in about a month. Hayden Davis, 28, was fatally shot in late July.
Ricks, an Ohio
resident, was found dead at a home in Detroit early Saturday morning, The Detroit News reports. Deontae Close, 31,
was arrested that day and arraigned Tuesday on a charge of second-degree
murder.
Wayne County
Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the deaths of Ricks and Davis do not appear to be
related, but the fact of them occurring so close together is “beyond
concerning.”
“We have seen
this happen before and hope that this does not become a pattern,” Worthy said
in a statement. “While some protections for transgender citizens in Michigan
are finally beginning to be recognized, their lives are still very much in
danger.”
Fair Michigan
President Alanna Maguire also released a statement on the situation. “The fact
that we have seen two homicides of transgender women in just three weeks shows
the danger this community faces,” Maguire said. “Rather than being supported,
we often hear people vilify the transgender community which fuels this kind of
violence and hate. We are proud to work with Prosecutor Worthy’s office on
these cases, and we hope to bring justice to the victims and their families.”
No arrest has
been made in Davis’s case. Worthy and representatives of Fair Michigan’s
Justice Project held a press conference Wednesday to call attention to
the matter. They asked that anyone with information about the crime call Crime
Stoppers at (800) SPEAK-UP or the Justice Project at (877) 432-4764. The
Justice Project is a partnership between Fair Michigan and several county
prosecutors’ offices.
Ricks is at least the 27th trans, nonbinary, or
gender-nonconforming American known to have died by violence this year, after
2021 saw a record 57 such deaths reported. The total for any year
is likely higher, given that many victims are deadnamed and misgendered by
police or media, or their deaths not reported at all.
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
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