Gunman kills transgender woman in city while her friends flee
Her family is now calling for her murder to be investigated as a hate crime. She’s believed to be the 26th known trans or nonbinary person murdered this year, Advocate reported. According to Redd’s close friend Michelle Lee, her killer walked by Redd, her friends, and the street where they were meeting in the early morning hours of Sunday. Redd’s friend, Michelle Lee, said that the man spoke to a group of women nearby and then returned 30 minutes later and opened fire on Redd and friends.
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“She wanted to be loved and respected,” her friend Trevon Pope said. “That was how she was. She was a person who loved and respected people. She loved and respected people.”
Redd’s family is now demanding that her murder be investigated as a hate crime.
“I do feel like it was a hate crime,” her cousin Mariyah Phillips told the Chicago Sun-Times. I want to raise
consciousness
that people are attacking this community. I want people to know that they are being attacked.”
Hate crimes against gender identity have increased in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ reported two hate crimes against gender identity in 2020, and zero in 2021. In 2022 that number jumped to nine — a 350% increase over 2020.
The actual number of hate crimes based on gender identity may be higher, as not all violent acts against transgender and nonbinary people are reported to the police. Furthermore, police, the media and victims’ families sometimes misgender victims, essentially erasing their trans and nonbinary identities in the process.
According to the 2017-2022 Transgender Homicide Tracker, 73% of all confirmed homicides against Black trans women involved a gun. [bringing]
