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Girlalala
The 21-year-old hairstylist had nearly 300,000 TikTok followers and many more on Instagram.
Girlalala, a 21-year old Black transgender social media influencer, was shot to death Friday in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. She was in a car with her boyfriend, 25-year-old Shanoyd Whyte Jr., at the time, and they had been arguing. Police took Whyte into custody at the scene, and he has now been charged with first-degree murder and ordered held without bond, local media report.
A hairstylist and wig expert, Girlalala had more than 296,000 followers on TikTok and over 44,000 on Instagram. She lived in Pompano Beach, Florida.
“It is absolutely devastating to learn about the loss of Girlalala, a bright light in my home state of Florida,” Victoria Kirby York, director of public policy and programs at the National Black Justice Collective, said in a press release. “She was the first transgender person many had the chance to meet through her role as an influencer on TikTok and likely saved lives by being an example for people looking for the words to describe their own journey. Her death takes place during a time of deep grief and mourning as our community commemorates Transgender Awareness Week and Transgender Day of Remembrance and Resilience.” Transgender Day of Remembrance is November 20.
Girlalala was a fan of rapper JT of the City Girls, and the feeling was mutual. JT donated several thousand dollars to a GoFundMe campaign raising money to cover Girlalala’s funeral expenses and wrote on Instagram, “Rest beautiful girlala! We love you & Heaven will never be boring now that you are there, your boldness, energy, humor & beauty will be missed! You never missed a chance to show me love & for that I’m forever grateful. I’m sorry this happened to you!”
Girlalala had been in a relationship with Whyte for three years. He told Broward County sheriff’s officers that in the car, the two had a verbal argument that turned physical. After being shot, Girlalala was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Violence against transgender people is epidemic in the U.S. Trans and gender-expansive people are 2.5 times as likely to be victims of violence as cisgender people, according to the Department of Justice. Girlalala is at least the 18th trans or gender-expansive person to die by violence in 2025, and at least the 15th to be killed with a gun, Everytown for Gun Safety reports.
Related: Transgender people are being killed at an alarming rate, especially in the South (exclusive)
A gun was involved in more than 70 percent of homicides of trans people in the U.S. from January 2017 through December 2022, according to an Everytown study released last year. In at least 19 percent of violent deaths of trans people, the perpetrator is an intimate partner or family member, and those killed with a gun are nearly twice as likely to be killed by an intimate partner or family member compared with gun homicide victims overall, Everytown notes. And this violence disproportionately affects trans women of color, especially Black women.
“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of Girlalala. Her death is a cruel reminder that trans and gender-expansive people, especially Black trans women, face a disproportionate impact of violence,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “As Trans Day of Remembrance approaches, we honor Giralala and all those whose lives have been cut short by fighting for safer communities for trans and gender-expansive people everywhere.”
Related: A devastating reality: New report finds violence and erasure ahead of Transgender Day of Remembrance
“Her murder is a somber reminder of why building awareness and education, beyond days like TDOR, is essential,” York continued in the NBJC release. “We must continue to draw the public’s attention to the epidemic of violence facing Black women because, right now, too many people are getting away with these horrific crimes. We must work to reduce stigma and improve support systems so that trans people feel comfortable and safe seeking help from the community, their chosen and given families, and law enforcement when they are in abusive situations. Girlalala should still be with us. Let’s honor her memory by ensuring law enforcement and domestic violence organizations work together to ensure Violence Against Women Act funding in our communities is adequately supporting and sheltering Black transgender women in need of their services.”
JT denounced people who don’t take violence against trans people or intimate partner violence in general seriously. “NOTHING is funny” about it, she wrote in an Instagram story, now expired but widely quoted.
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