Jaheim “Bella”
Pugh was just 19 when he was gunned down at a party on Sunday, December 13.
Pugh – a gender non-conforming individual who used both he/him and she/her
pronouns – was the only fatality among the three people injured in the
shooting.
Pugh’s family
is certain that he was targeted because of his identity and appearance.
Pugh was
wearing a rainbow jumpsuit at a weekend Christmas party being held in Prichard,
Alabama on the north end of the Mobile metropolitan area. A shooting broke out,
leaving Pugh dead.
“People hated
him because of what he wore and it’s not right,” Pugh’s mother, Tiffany, told
local news outlet FOX 10. “They took somebody special because he
wore a dress.”
Pugh, an
aspiring entertainer, used Bella as a stage name but was “trying to figure it
all out,” family reportedly
shared with staff at Planet Transgender.
Mobile County
Sheriff’s deputies took a suspect in custody. Initially calling James Lee
James, Jr. a person of interest, the officers booked
him into the county jail on December 16. He is being charged with one
count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
James was out
on bond already for another assault charge, related to a shooting that is
believed to be separate. Still, he told media that he will fight to prove his
innocence, and expects to be bailed out soon. As of now, he is reportedly still
behind bars.
“I’m going to
go to every court hearing. I’m going to make sure he does not kill anybody’s
child. I don’t want nobody else to feel how I feel today,” Tiffany told NBC
15.
Pugh’s family
was also dismayed by video evidence that bystanders did nothing to help
Pugh, bleeding
to death in footage broadcast live on Facebook after the shooting.
“You sat there
for 20 minutes and recorded him on the floor,” Tiffany said, “No CPR, nothing!
Statements they put on the live was, ‘If he wasn’t wearing that dress he would
still be alive.’”
The Sheriff’s
Office, however, has
not pursued a hate crime stipulation in the charges, a decision that
has only upset Pugh’s family further. Crimes against people solely based on
their sexual orientation and gender identity are
not recognized in Alabama’s current hate crime statutes.
Pugh’s sister,
Sante, wrote in a post to Facebook pleading to others, “you don’t have to
accept the lifestyle but please RESPECT IT.”
“My brother
bothered nobody… long live my brother ! I’m waving my FLAG FOREVER,” she wrote,
sharing an emoji of the Pride flag.
A
drive-through celebration of life was held on December 18, celebrating Pugh’s
tragically short life. “Mardi Gras was his favorite time, so we’re going to
make a little Mardi Gras today,” Tiffany explained, adding that Pugh told her
that “He didn’t want no funeral. He ain’t a sad person. So we’re giving him a
celebration of his epic 19 years old this world.”
Pugh’s father,
Antonio Ruggs, pleaded with other parents to “love your kids for who they are.
Because you know one day they could be here, the next day they can be gone.”
The Human
Rights Campaign has
yet to count Pugh’s murder among its count for fatal violence against
the Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Community in 2020.
Tiffany told
local media that Pugh identified as both a man and a woman. Still, most reports
simply identified him as a man, while some mentioned that he wore feminine
clothing, but did not share his gender non-conforming identity. However, social
media users have stated that she
recently told them to use the first name Bella and she/her pronouns
for Pugh.
Pugh had
multiple Facebook pages using the name Jaheim and he/him pronouns.
SOURCE: LGBTQ NATION
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