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Crime

Trans Women of Color Killed in North Carolina, Wisconsin

Brazil Johnson and Sasha Mason
From left: Brazil Johnson and Sasha Mason

Both Sasha Mason and Brazil Johnson were victims of gun violence.

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Two more transgender Americans, both women of color, have died by violence recently, bringing the year's total of such deaths to 17.

Sasha Mason, a 45-year-old Latina, was shot to death during a robbery at her home in Zebulon, N.C. The attack took place May 13 but is only now being reported outside the region, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents notes. Also, local coverage misgendered and deadnamed her, so she was not initially recognized as trans.

Mason lived in an apartment behind her mother's home, TV station WNCN reports. Her mother was awakened by gunshots early in the morning and found Mason lying on the floor, gravely wounded. Police arrived at the scene and provided emergency treatment, but Mason died shortly thereafter.

Police arrested one suspect, Ali Tariq Khabir Wiggins, the same day, and another, Julius Antwan Smith, two days later, according to the station. They are both charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery with a dangerous weapon, and additional charges are likely, police said. "Wiggins was a known associate [of Mason]," WNCN reports. "Police believe the attack was targeted."

"Sasha's friends and family have shared on social media that Sasha will be remembered as a sweet, kind and generous person with a beautiful smile who cherished her friends and family," notes a press release from the Human Rights Campaign.

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Brazil Johnson, a 28-year-old Black woman, died June 15 in Milwaukee, TV station WDJT reports. She was shot multiple times, and her death has been ruled a homicide. No suspect has been identified.

Johnson worked as a chef. "Bake, chef it up, loved to get in the kitchen," her mother, Bernita Gildart, told the station.

Gildart also expressed her grief and outrage. "For someone to do that so many times, that's just hateful, so I'm looking at it like that's just total hate," she said. "Why would you do something like that to her, what did she do so wrong for her to deserve that kind of death?"

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.