Another
transgender American has died by violence, bringing this year’s total of trans
or gender-nonconforming homicide victims in the nation to 33.
Sara
Blackwood, 29, was shot around 10 p.m. Sunday in Indianapolis, The Indianapolis Star reports. She died shortly
afterward at a local hospital.
Police said
she was apparently walking home from work when she was shot, Indianapolis TV
station WXIN reports. She had worked at a Kroger grocery store
for several years, but she was on her way home from a different job, according
to the station.
“She was very
sweet and a very good person,” her friend Jimmy Johnson, a Kroger coworker,
told the station. She provided excellent service to customers, he said. “She
was very quick, so if they had a problem at the self-checkout, she would be
right there,” he noted.
“The world at
large is missing a very kind, responsible person,” Johnson added.
Activists
mourned her death as well. “Six transgender women have been killed over the
last 23 days — which is just over three weeks — in this country. This violence
is heartbreaking and horrifying. It must end,” Tori Cooper, director of
community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice
Initiative, said in a press release.
“We have already
seen more trans and gender-nonconforming people killed this year since we began
tracking these deaths in 2013, and the numbers continue to climb, even during a
pandemic. We must all ask ourselves what each of us is doing to work to bring
this violence to an end. We are mourning Sara’s loss along with her friends and
family, including her domestic partner Avery, who are all in our thoughts. As
we take time to remember Sara, we’ll keep fighting for the lives for all trans
and gender-nonconforming people.”
With 33
homicides of trans people reported in the U.S., 2020 is the deadliest year
since activists and media outlets began keeping records. The previous high was
31 in 2017. The number for any given year is likely higher, given that many
victims are misgendered in death (as Blackwood initially was) or their deaths
not reported at all.
Police ask
that anyone with information on the crime call the police department at (317)
327-3811 or Crime Stoppers at (317) 262-TIPS (8477).
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
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