A 25-year-old
Black transgender woman was fatally shot in Shreveport, Louisiana on August 23,
marking the latest victim of gun violence in a state where several LGBTQ people
have been shot and killed dating back to last year.
Local police
said “Pooh” Johnson, who also went by Titanizer Mua on social media pages, was
found dead with multiple gunshot wounds inside a vehicle shortly after 5:30
a.m. at the 300 Block of West 74th Street in Shreveport, which
is located in the northwestern part of Louisiana. Results of an autopsy are
forthcoming.
Authorities
pledged to determine whether Johnson’s identity played a role in the fatal
shooting, but police also appeared to misgender the victim. Shreveport Police
did not respond to Gay City News’ request for further details in the case.
Johnson worked
as a makeup artist, according to Facebook and Instagram pages. Members of
Johnson’s family did not immediately respond to Gay City News’ request for
comment.
Gun violence
has taken a toll on the LGBTQ community in Louisiana in recent years. Last
October, Brooklyn DeShauna, a 20-year-old Black transgender woman, was shot and
killed at the 7200 Block of Bernstein Avenue in Shreveport — just blocks away
from where Johnson’s body was found. McKinsley
LaKeith Lincoln, an out gay Black man, was shot and killed in May of last
year in Alexandria, Louisiana, which is roughly two hours south of Shreveport.
In another
case out of Louisiana earlier this year, a Black trans woman named Fifty
Bandz was shot to death in Baton Rouge.
Johnson became
the 35th known transgender or gender non-conforming person to
suffer a violent death in the United States this year, according to the Human
Rights Campaign, though there are likely more individuals who have not been
counted. Other recent victims include 35-year-old Tierramarie Lewis, who was
shot to death in Cleveland on June 12; Miss CoCo, a 44-year-old trans woman who
was fatally shot in Dallas on August 7; and Shai
Vanderpump, a 23-year-old Black trans woman who was killed last month in
Trenton, New Jersey.
“My heart
breaks hearing the news about Pooh Johnson,” Victoria Kirby York, the deputy
executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said in a written
statement. “This epidemic of violence continues to take life after life and
each senseless loss is devastating. The trans and non-binary community needs
support in this moment and they need protection. Lawmakers must introduce and
pass legislation that will prioritize the safety of trans and gender
non-conforming people. Law enforcement must work to hold those responsible for
these murders accountable. Community members must put pressure on lawmakers and
law enforcement to ensure the work gets done. We all must continue to fight
back against the transphobia and bias that contributes to the violence we see.”
SOURCE: GAY CITY NEWS
This sucks 😏
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