Michigan transgender man Jean Butchart shot and killed in series of attacks

Jean Thomas Butchart, a 26-year-old Michigan transgender man, was shot to death in August in what police are calling a crime spree that included attacks on two other people.

Butchart’s trans identity has been widely recognized only recently. He is one of more than 30 trans, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming people who died by violence in 2023.

Butchart was killed toward the end of his first day on a new job, according to MLive, a site for several Michigan newspapers. He was working at the Van Buren Estates Mobile Home Community in Van Buren Township, near Detroit. He had been pulling weeds and cleaning the grounds when, about 5 p.m. August 4, he was shot in the head by a stranger. He died at the scene. He was “one victim in a string of random, violent attacks by a suspect now awaiting trial for murder,” MLive reports.

The suspect is Matthew Torrey Tiggs Jr., 22, of Eastpointe, Mich. He is also accused of threatening a 45-year-old man, at whom he aimed a gun, July 28, and shooting and wounding a 47-year-old man August 6. These incidents took place in Van Buren Township as well. Tiggs was arrested after a standoff of two hours near the site of the August 6 attack.

Tiggs has been charged with “second-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, felonious assault, three counts of felon in possession of a firearm and three counts of felony firearm,” according to MLive.

Butchart is being remembered for his love of the outdoors, which earned him the nickname “Nature Boy,” his obituary notes. He had a degree in environmental studies and was continuing his education with the aim of becoming a teacher.

About a decade ago, he had volunteered with the Teen Peer Education Theater Troupe at the Corner Health Center in Ypsilanti, Mich. He progressed from “not believing he could do it to being one of our most consistent performers,” Craig VanKempen, a friend from that time, told MLive. VanKempen cried upon hearing of Butchart’s death, he said.

Initial coverage of his death misgendered and deadnamed him due to a clerical error by law enforcement, for which authorities have now apologized, MLive reports. Due to the case, area police departments have received cultural competency training, and more is planned.

“Jean was striving toward a brighter future for himself where he could educate others about environmental issues and matters, something that was apparently very close to his heart,” Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initiative, said in a press release. “And yet again, very infuriatingly, we are recognizing another trans individual for being fatally shot instead of celebrating their accolades. Too often, our community’s dreams and aspirations are cut short because of the epidemic of gun violence in this country. As we honor Jean and the countless other trans people killed by gun violence, we have to push our entrusted politicians and lawmakers to prioritize the safety of not only the trans community, but every community in this country.”