Two more
violent deaths of transgender Americans have been reported, one in December and
one in January.
Destiny
Howard, 23, was found shot to death in Macon, Ga.,
December 9, according to the Human Rights Campaign. She was also known as Destin
Howard or Destin Cheves, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents reports. Her
body was found in the parking lot of a software business, notes TV
station WMGT, which misgendered her.
“It is
heartbreaking to learn of yet another young Black trans woman whose life was
taken by gun violence,” Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for HRC’s
Transgender Justice Initiative, said in a press release. “Destiny’s life mattered,
and it was taken far too soon. Initial reports of Destiny’s death misgendered
her, denying her the dignity to be seen as she desired. Our society must
recognize that trans women are women and that their lives have worth, and work
to end the violence that takes far too many of our lives.”
The Bibb
County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Howard’s death. Anyone with
information is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at (478) 751-7500 or Macon
Regional Crime Stoppers at (877) 68-CRIME.
She is at least the 37th trans, nonbinary, or
gender-nonconforming person to have died by violence in 2022 — 36 of whom have
been named. A 31-year-old trans woman was shot to death in Vallejo, Calif., in
November, but her name has not been released.
In the January
incident, KC Johnson, 27, of Wilmington, N.C.,
is missing and presumed dead. She was last seen January 12 or 13 in Wilmington
(reports vary), and police believe she was killed January 13, according to
local paper Star News. She would be the second trans,
nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming person killed in 2023.
Police have
not located her remains, although they are trying to determine if a body found
in Savannah, Ga., is Johnson’s, TV station WWAY reports. But they have made an arrest. William
Hicks, 26, of South Carolina, is charged with first-degree murder, robbery with
a dangerous weapon, and kidnapping, Star News reports.
Police say he
met Johnson on social media, according to WWAY. He was arrested in Myrtle
Beach, S.C., on a fugitive warrant, and is being held in a South Carolina jail.
Johnson was a
native of Wilmington who attended Abide University and worked as manager of a
Domino’s, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents reports. Her
partner, Bulla Brodzinski, described Johnson as the love of her life, the site
notes.
The LGBTQ
Center of the Cape Fear Coast held a candlelight vigil for Johnson last Friday,
going from Wilmington City Hall to the spot where she was last seen. About 50
people attended, “from people who don’t have a connection to our community to
allies with deep connections,” Caroline Morin, the center’s executive director,
told Star News.
Speaking to
WWAY, Morin added, “I think any time we have someone from within the community
— the LGBTQ community as a whole but especially the trans and nonbinary community
— when they’re murdered it’s an immediate message to us that something is
happening, that we’re already familiar with. So a big thing that kind of comes
for us next is what’s going to happen as our community going to respond
appropriately. Will some sense of justice happen in this instance, and then
what do we do to keep moving forward for those of us who are left behind?”
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
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