MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN DEATH OF TRANS WOMAN MERCI MACK

A 20-year-old man has been charged with murder in the case of Merci Mack, 22, a Black transgender woman who was shot to death at an apartment complex in Dallas July 30.

Dallas police arrested Angelo Walker last Wednesday, The Dallas Morning News reports. He was being held in the Dallas County Jail, with bail set at $900,000.

A witness said he saw Walker pursuing Mack in the apartment complex’s parking lot and shooting at her, the Morning News reports, based on an affidavit from the arrest warrant. At one point she was lying on the ground and Walker was continuing to fire at her, according to the affidavit.

The witness and anonymous tipsters said Walker and Mack were arguing over a video of the two of them that she intended to share with others. The content of the video remains unknown.

Mack’s family and friends expressed relief that an arrest had been made. They described her as an upbeat person who doted on her niece and nephews.

“That’s the kind of auntie she was: ‘I don’t care what your mama said, come get in this car, and we’re going to get some ice cream.’ They loved her,” her sister Tyeshia Rickett told the Morning News.

Ta’tiana Waites, a longtime friend of Mack’s, said she was outspoken, generous, and funny. “She should be here right now,” Waites added.

Shannon Walker, founder of Nu Trans Movement in Dallas, blamed the violent deaths of trans women on homophobia and transphobia. 

“We’re dealing with a generation of men that are just not ready to face the music and just not ready to embrace their sexuality and the experiences and the feelings that they’re having for trans women of color,” she told the Morning News. “And that’s just the bottom line.”

Mack is one of at least 21 trans and gender-nonconfirming people who have become homicide victims this year. Most have been Black and Latinx women.

SOURCE: ADVOCATE

BLACK TRANS WOMAN MERCI MACK SHOT DEATH IN DALLAS

Merci Mack, a 22-year-old Black transgender woman, was found shot to death Tuesday in Dallas.

A passerby called police and emergency personnel after noticing Mack lying unresponsive in the parking lot of an apartment complex about 6:15 a.m., TV station KXAS reports. Dallas Fire-Rescue workers pronounced her dead at the scene. Neighbors had heard gunshots in the area about 5 a.m.

Dozens of Mack’s friends posted messages of sorrow and remembrance on her Facebook page. “My heart is very heavy, Merci you will be truly missed, I am going miss arguing with you, laughing, singing dancing and mostly watching them fine Men!” one wrote.

Over the last five years, more trans people have died by violence in Texas than in any other state, according to The Dallas Morning News, and almost half of those homicides have been in Dallas. Nationwide, Mack’s death is at least the 19th homicide of a trans person this year, with most of the victims being Black or Latinx.

David J. Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, released the following statement: “What do you do when you don’t have the capacity to wrap your head around the pain and trauma a community of people continues to experience and you know that your feelings aren’t half of what’s required to show up as a member of that community? You continue the work and insist that others, who purport to believe that #BlackLivesMatter, also get engaged. 

“What pains me most about the continued loss of Black trans life is that nearly everyone who is identified as Black knows the sting of stigma and the trauma of discrimination. We know the horror of being the victim of violence simply because of socially constructed ideas of ‘Blackness.’ This shared experience alone should be enough for each of us, everyone who is Black, regardless of cis or trans experience, to collectively call for and do the work to end the violence that trans and nonbinary members of our community experience — too often in silence. Merci Mack deserves better, as a community we failed her and so many of our trans siblings, and this is beyond unacceptable.”

Dallas police are asking anyone with information to contact Det. Brian Tabor at (214) 671-3605 or brian.tabor@dallascityhall.com. CrimeStoppers is also seeking tips at (214) 373-TIPS (8477) and will pay up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest and indictment.

SOURCE: ADVOCATE