How We'll Remember U.S. Trans Women Killed in 2015

On this and every November 20, the transgender community and its allies remember those lives taken too soon on the international Transgender Day of Remembrance.

This year, what advocates call an "epidemic" of transphobic violence has been especially pronounced in the U.S., where at press time, at least 21 transgender women have been murdered. The first seven weeks of 2015 saw seven trans women killed in the U.S. alone. By comparison, last year, 13 trans women were killed in the U.S. as a result of transphobic violence. And none of these somber totals include individuals whose deaths went unreported, or those who were misgendered or not respected as the women they are in death, either by police or media reports. The vast majority of the victims of this targeted violence are transgender women of color.

This year, some trans activists and allies have called for a reframing of the annual day of mourning, to be instead known as the Transgender Day of Resilience.

In this spirit, The Advocate commissioned pen-and-ink renderings from artist Cristy C. Road, to memorialize the vibrant existence of each of the 21 trans women whose lives were cut short by senseless hate this year. While their stories ended in tragedy, the illustrations speak to the vibrancy, personality, and resilience that marked the lives of these women, who lived their truth to the very end. 

Read on to see their stories. 

All illustrations by Cristy C. Road. See more about Cristy on the final page of the slideshow.

The first trans woman reported killed in 2015 wasn't initially recognized as a trans woman. On January 9, Lamar "Papi" Edwards was fatally shot outside a hotel in Louisville, Ky. Two days later, Louisville Metro Police arrested 20-year-old Henry Richard Gleaves in connection with the crime, and have charged him with murder. At his January 13 arraignment, Gleaves pleaded not guilty.

After preliminary media reports offered conflicting reports about Edwards's gender identity, BuzzFeed News reporter Dominic Holden launched an in-depth investigation that appears to indicate Edwards did identify as a transgender woman, and was presenting as a woman when she was killed. 

"Papi got shot because she was a transgender female," Tiffany, a friend of Edwards who was at the scene of the crime, told BuzzFeed. "That is exactly why she was killed — because of gender identity."

Although police are not treating the murder as a hate crime, Edwards's friends stressed to BuzzFeed that Edwards was shot to death after the suspect became upset about the fact that Edwards was transgender. Edwards "died a woman," Tiffany told BuzzFeed, while noting that Edwards was not out as trans to her mother, who was "not accepting" of her identity. 

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Lamia Beard, 30, was close with her family, and proudly proclaimed that she had the best singing voice around her hometown of Norfolk, Va. 

"When we were in high school, Lamia was in the chorus," her older sister, Kiara Parker, told Alternet. "People would pay Lamia to sing at funerals and weddings."

The "high-spirited, joke-cracking" trans woman of color had a particular fondness for songs by Beyoncé. She spoke fluent French and was an avid reader, according to Alternet. She played the piccolo, oboe, and flute. She majored in music education at Norfolk State University, but left after her sophomore year. 

“Lamia was very simple,” Parker told Alternet. “She just wanted to get her life together. Being transgender, it was very hard for Lamia and it affected her. She would get discouraged about applying for different jobs. It came to a point and time when Lamia just wanted people to accept her for who she was and to find a job so she could live on her own."

Parker and the rest of Beard's family were stunned when they learned that Beard had been fatally shot in the early morning hours of January 17. And they were "mortified" when local media reports misgendered their sister, and included irrelevant details about decades-old arrests when reporting on her death. 

"What Lamia did 5, 10, 15 years ago has nothing to do with this case," said Parker. "In fact, if it had anything to do with it, they should have put that in the article. It didn’t have anything to do with her being shot and murdered."

"She didn’t carry herself as the type of lady they portrayed her as in that news article,” Beard's younger sister, Kendall Beard, told Alternet. "I didn’t like it."

Although Beard often spoke of the anti-trans discrimination she encountered when seeking employment or updating her identification, the woman's immediate family — her mother, father, two sisters, and brother — all supported her wholeheartedly. 

"Lamia used to brag to friends that she had a family who accepted her because a lot of people in the LGBT community did not have their own family to accept them," Parker told Alternet.

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Ty Underwood, 24, brightened every room she entered, according to friends and colleagues. While attending nursing school, Underwood was working at a nursing home, along with Sheila Morgan. 

"She kept the whole place alive with her personality," Morgan told Tyler, Texas, TV station KLTV. "She was bold, took risks, and lived her life. This was so shocking because nobody believed she had an enemy."

But in the early hours of January 26, Underwood was shot to death in Tyler, Texas. Police responded to a 911 call from a woman who heard a car crash into a telephone pole, and whose children heard gunshots. Carlton Ray Champion Jr., 21, was charged with murder February 9, after electronic and video evidence revealed that he was meeting Underwood for a date at the time she was killed. Police say that Champion, a student at Texas College, and Underwood had been in a "brief relationship" prior to Underwood's death. Champion was originally detained on January 29 for a probation violation while officials continued to investigate his suspected connection to Underwood's murder.

"She was lovely, just a lovely person. Very real, down-to-earth person who didn't deserve this, did not deserve this at all," Underwood's roommate, Coy Simmons, told KYTX. "This has to be a hate crime, this has to be a hate crime, nothing else because that was an upstanding person with a good heart."

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Tyler Police Department at (903) 531-1000 or Tyler-Smith County Crime Stoppers at (903) 597-2833.

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Yazmin Vash Payne was 33 years old when her life was cut short by the man she shared a Van Nuys, Calif., apartment with on January 31. Firefighters found her in the kitchen as they were responding to reports of a fire in the rear bedroom, after neighbors reported hearing Payne and her boyfriend arguing late into the night. 

Three days later, that boyfriend, Ezekiel Dear, 25, confessed to killing his girlfriend, turning himself in to police, accompanied by a pastor as he walked into the 77th Police Precinct of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“She belonged to somebody, she was somebody’s child, someone cared for her,” Jazzmun Crayton told Los Angeles TV station KCAL. “She chose to live a life that was pleasing to her, and it’s not fair, it didn’t make sense and it’s not right.”

"They’re killing us and nobody seems to care," trans advocate Bamby Salcedo told Los Angeles TV station KCBS at a vigil for Payne and other trans women killed this year. "This is not an isolated incident. And it’s important that the LAPD continues to do what they’re supposed to do."

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Taja Gabrielle DeJesus, a 36-year-old trans woman of color, is remembered by her mother as "beautiful inside and out."

"Whenever she had anything extra, she would give it away," Pamela DeJesus of San Jose, Calif., told the San Francisco Chronicle. "That’s just how she was. I don’t know how anybody could do this. But I’m proud of how strong and selfless she was. That’s what brings me peace.”

Her daughter was spirited and independent, having gotten her first job at age 15, raising enough money to buy a stereo to play the music she was passionate about, and traveling often to San Francisco until she was able to permanently move to Bayview, where she felt her identity was more tolerated than in her hometown.

But it was in that neighborhood where DeJesus was stabbed to daeth in a stairwell on February 1. Five days after officials discovered the Latina woman's body, police told the San Francisco Weekly they had found her suspected assailant, 49-year-old James Hayes, dead in an apparent suicide. His body was discovered behind a warehouse a half-mile from where DeJesus's body was found.

Taja DeJesus was an active member of a Bayview church, a food pantry volunteer, and a volunteer with Trans Thrive, where, program manager Nikki Calma told the Chronicle, "She was very vocal about issues in the trans community, especially when it came to health and disparity. She was well known and will definitely be missed."

Anyone with information about DeJesus's murder is asked to contact the San Francisco Police Department at (415) 575-4444.

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Penny Proud was a 21-year-old black trans woman living in New Orleans, who was active in the city's LGBT youth community. She died of a gunshot wound sustained February 10 during what police say was a robbery.

Her death sent shockwaves through her local trans community and others nationwide, as her case became the fifth reported murder of a transgender woman of color within the first five weeks of 2015. The tragedy also elevated a conversation about how to respectfully refer to trans victims of violence. Initial local reports misgendered Proud, referring to her with her true name and pronouns. New Orleans LGBT youth of color activist group BreakOUT! took a lead in calling on New Orleans newspaper The Times-Picayune and other media to adhere to journalistic standards when reporting on trans people.

In May, BreakOUT! took the conversation into its own hands, erecting a can't-miss-it billboard over the Broad Street Bridge in New Orleans. Spanning more than 24 feet across, the billboard displays an illustration of a smiling Proud, accompanied by popular social media hashtags "#BlackTransLivesMatter" and "#MakePennyProud." The enormous sign was seen by 400,000 commuters and passers-by each day, organizers estimate. It stayed up for two months, sparking conversation throughout the city.

Proud's grandmother, Ms. Nadine told BreakOUT! that she'd received calls from several family members about the billboard.

"My niece works at the sheriff's office, so she took a picture and sent it to me," she told the activists. "It's important to get the message out that all lives matter, no matter what gender they are. Thank you again."

Illustration by Cristy C. Road.

Bri Golec, a 22-year-old artist living in Akron, Ohio, was just beginning to explore a transgender identity, when stabbed to death by her father February 13.

Golec was a skilled drummer, who played in a band called Murphy's Children, and loved cats. On her memorial Facebook page, friends remembered Golec fondly and struggled with her untimely death.

Golec was "such a peaceful person," wrote one friend. "I don't mean [she] was quiet or still, I mean that [she] had made peace with life and with [her]self, under everything else was a layer of peace in [her] aura. In spite of all the unmet potential and unfinished projects in [her] life, I truly believe that [her] soul is at peace. [She's] OK, and that helps me be OK."

Kevin Golec, 52, pleaded guilty to murder and felony domestic violence, and has been sentenced to life in prison, with a possibility of parole, according to his child's memorial page. He was arrested shortly after police responded to a series of 911 calls he made alleging that several members of a "cult" had broken into his house in a robbery, claiming they had attacked both him and his child. Police have since determined that the elder Golec lied about those intruders, and advocates have suggested that the "cult" to which he was referring to may have been a trans support group Bri had been attending sporadically, according to Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondent.

Reports have conflicted on whether Bri Golec identified as trans, but local trans activist Jacob Nash confirmed to the Correspondent that Golec was involved in the local trans community, while local group Trans Ohio sent out a message stating that Golec was a trans woman. The young person's public obituary identified her as "male," which advocates decried as misgendering.

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Kristina Gomez Reinwald, 46, was "a beautiful person," friend Milancita Rodriguez told Miami TV station WTVJ. "She was always full of energy — she was very kind, very generous person," Lauren Foster added.

"She lived this life to the [fullest] and touched so many people during her time here with us. We all have a kaleidoscope of memories that we will always carry with us," Rodriguez said in a Facebook memorial event for her friend.

Reinwald was a popular entertainer in Miami's LGBT community, known to many by her stage name, Kristina Grant Infiniti. She identified as a Latina trans woman. 

After initially ruling her February 16 death a suicide, Miami police concluded that she was, in fact, killed by an unknown assailant, days after reports of possible foul play began circulating on social media using a hashtag of Reinwald's stage name. Friends of the victim believe she may have been killed by her boyfriend (who was possibly her ex-boyfriend), according to the Miami New Times. While police have not released any information about possible suspects, they did note that there were no signs of forced entry in Reinwald's home, suggesting that she knew her killer, according to Miami station WPLG.

Anyone with information about Kristina Gomez Reinwald's death is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS.

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Keyshia Blige’s friend Sasha Love told The Guardian that Blige first began to realize her gender identity when they performed in drag together in 2010. The pair had known each other since childhood from the church choir, and Love witnessed a remarkable difference in her longtime friend.

“When she would dress up, she would tell me ‘I love being Keyshia. I want to be Keyshia,’” she said.

The next year, Blige became the victim of a hate crime — four men attacked her, resulting in nerve damage to her face. It was a major setback. Depressed, Blige gained weight and stopped wearing the clothes in which she had previously felt so liberated.

But she bounced back. Last year, Blige lost weight and resumed her performances. She began coming out to friends and family. It was difficult at first, Love said, but it appeared as if things were finally looking up.

“Her family, they were coming around to the point where they were coming around,” Love said.

Earlier this year, at the age of 33, Blige was driving a friend in her car through Aurora, Ill., "when several shots were fired," hitting her in the shoulder. She attempted to drive to the hospital, but eventually lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a Jeep. She was pronounced dead on arrival at an Aurora hospital at 2:58 a.m. March 7.

She had begun pursuing her physical transition shortly before she was killed. Love said it was "the happiest I had ever seen her once she started transitioning.”

As the nation turned its attention to the Baltimore uprisings in the wake of Freddie Gray's death, the city's trans residents mourned one of their own, killed by police. 

Maya Hall, 27, was killed when police opened fire on a reportedly stolen car she was driving, after crashing through a barricade at the entrance to the National Security Agency's headquarters in Fort Meade, Md., on March 30, according to The Washington Post. Police initially speculated the incident may have been some kind of terrorist attack, but ultimately concluded that Hall and her passenger, a fellow trans sex worker, took a wrong exit and panicked when they saw police. 

The Post notes that Hall had a lengthy arrest record, and may have been facing future jail time for probation violations. Nevertheless, friends who worked with her in Baltimore's Old Gloucester neighborbood described Hall to the paper as a "sweet jokester who let others stay in her motel room when she had one, enjoyed dressing in skirts, and kidded her friends." 

"A lot of people envied her," 21-year-old Mykel Caldwell told the Post.

"She was a very nice person," Anthony Guillaime, an attorney who represented Hall in a 2014 assault charge, told the Associated Press. "She was professional and grateful and always upbeat when I dealt with her. She was thankful for the help I was able to give her," Guillaume said. "But I could tell she was troubled and had problems in her past life. I got the sense that she was a loner — I'd ask her if she wanted me to call anyone, family or friends, but she always came to court alone."

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

London Chanel, a 21-year-old black trans woman, was found shortly after midnight May 18 in front of an abandoned north Philadelphia house, stabbed to death, according to Philadelphia TV station WCAU.

The fatal altercation began with a verbal fight between Chanel and a 31-year-old man inside the house, according to a witness statement to police. After stabbing Chanel, the man, whose name has not been released, and the witness reportedly carried Chanel's body outside the house, placed her on quilts, and began attempting to perform CPR. When the pair saw a School District of Philadelphia officer, they flagged him down, and he called Philadelphia police. Rushed to a hospital, Chanel was declared dead on arrival.

Both the assailant and the witness were taken into custody but do not currently face charges, according to WCAU. The alleged assailant had a pocketknife, believed to be the murder weapon, on him when he was apprehended.

Chanel, like many trans female victims of violence, was originally identified as a "man" in police reports, and accordingly reported by the local news station as such. Nellie Fitzpatrick, the director of the Mayor's Office of LGBT Affairs for the City of Philadelphia, told BuzzFeed News that she heard an "immediate outcry" from community members over the misgendering. She called the local station, which apologized for the error and updated its story to indicate that Chanel was a woman.

Meanwhile, Chanel is being remembered fondly by members of Philadelphia's trans community. "She had a heart of gold," Chanel's friend Kione Seymore told WCAU. "She hardly ever frowned. She always had a smile on her face. Her laughter was infectious. ... We are trans sisters. We shared a bond no one can understand."

Aileen Brown-Henry, another friend who Chanel had helped out of homelessness, said, "She was my heart and soul. She saved me a lot. She was my only friend."

Chanel's mother, Veronica Allen, who had had a strained relationship with her daughter since Chanel began transitioning, said she and Chanel had recently reconnected. "She was going to go to court and change her name and then she was going to come home," Allen told the station. "That's what we were working towards, but that man took it away from me."

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Mercedes Williamson, a 17-year-old aspiring cosmetologist who was estranged from her Mississippi family, had found a safe haven in Theodore, Ala., where she lived in a trailer with her 41-year-old friend Jeanie Miller. She enjoyed spending time outdoors, noted Mississippi's Sun Herald.

But she went missing May 30. A day after the murder, 28-year-old Josh Brandon Vallum told his father, Bobby Vallum, that he had killed a person, according to police records. Bobby Vallum reported the confession to police, who found Williams's body hidden under debris on the Vallum property June 2. The younger Vallum is reportedly a member of the Latin Kings street gang and has been charged with murder. Hate-crime charges have not been filed in the case, and police have not revealed a possible motive. 

"I couldn't believe it," Miller told the newspaper through tears. "I don't want to hear. I miss how she flipped her hair. I miss the crooked teeth with that beautiful smile. ... I can smell her. I just keep wanting her to walk through that door. ... I'll never have nobody like her again. That is barely something that crosses people's lives anyway. She is the most beautiful person."

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Shade Schuler was just 22 years old when she was killed June 29. Police are still looking for her killer. Her body was found in a vacant field in Dallas in late July, so badly decomposed that police struggled to identify the black trans woman. Her family asked that a scheduled vigil in her honor be canceled, so they could grieve privately. 

Schuler's murder raised the toll of reported trans murders past the total for all of 2014. Trans Pride Initiative’s Nell Gaither confirmed for the news media and police that Schuler was transgender.

"Several of us spent time verifying she was trans and trying to learn more this afternoon and evening," Gaither wrote on Facebook August 12, after speaking with police. "Her name was Ms. Shade, and she was only 22 years old. … Our hearts and thoughts are with her family and friends who now must confront this unfortunate taking of life. May we find space in our hearts to celebrate her time with us and the lives she touched. May we find inspiration in this loss to work together, trans and cis alike, to end the violence that has taken so many of our trans siblings from us far too soon."

Anyone with information about the crime is urged to call the Dallas Police Homicide Unit at (214) 671-3650 or Crime Stoppers at (214) 373-8477.

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

India Clarke, a 25-year-old black transgender woman, was last seen laughing with her nephews at her family's home in Tampa, Fla.

The young woman's mother, Thelma Clarke, fondly remembered her daughter to Tampa Bay area TV station WTSP as "a good-hearted person, a very loving person" who enjoyed laughing and making others smile. She was studying to be a cosmetologist, like her mother. 

"[Her] last words when [she] headed out the door were, "Mom, I love you, Dad, I love you. And we both said, 'We love you too," Thelma Clarke recalled.

Two days later, on July 2, she was found beaten to death outside Tampa's University Area Community Center. By the end of that month, an 18-year-old man who police described as a "violent career criminal" had turned himself in to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, indicating that he knew the victim. Keith Gaillard has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of possession of a firearm. 

Although local media and police reports initially misgendered Clarke, her family and local community were affirming of her identity. While her parents still used a childhood nickname and male pronouns to refer to their daughter, they accepted her as the woman she knew herself to be. 

"[The transition] didn't change the love we had — that we have — for [her]," Clarke's mother told the Tampa Bay Times. 

In fact, coming out to her parents "made her stronger," Clarke's friend, Mimi Redd, told the paper. "Because she was coming into herself. She was enjoying every day."

Clarke and Redd were both active members of a local nonprofit that sought to support LGBT African-Americans. Clarke spoke openly about the discrimination and harassment she experienced as a black trans woman, but was also ultimately optimistic, friends said. 

"She only wanted to be confident," Redd told the Times. "To live at home, to be comfortable like everyone else, to be happy."

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

As Michigan trans advocates mourned the death of Amber Monroe, they learned that another trans woman, 25-year-old Ashton O'Hara, had been found dead July 14 in the same area where Monroe was killed, according to Equality Michigan. The Detroit Police Department has arrested Larry B. Gaulding in connection with O'Hara's death.

O'Hara identified as a gender-fluid trans woman and was still using male pronouns at the time of his death, according to his mother, who affirmed her child's identity. Explaining that she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for her child, Rebecca O'Hara asked that attendees of the memorial services wear bright colors, "because my son lived."

"Ashton knew exactly who he was even as young as 2 years old," O'Hara's mother told Equality Michigan. "[He once told me,] 'Mama, you are so pretty, I want to be just like you when I grow up.' By all accounts, Ashton was full of love for his family and friends, and lived life on his terms. He loved kids, he loved to dance, perform at the clubs, and he loved doing hair (he taught himself how to braid extensions at the age of 4!). He was so good that he could 'turn a frog into a princess.'" 

Although he had the support of his mother and friends within the community, O'Hara often felt alone, his mother said. 

"Maybe the kind of love he was searching for was to love himself," the grieving mother concluded.

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Amber Monroe, 20, of Detroit, was a student at Michigan's Wayne State University. She loved to dance and was described by friends who spoke to Fusion as "very goal-oriented."

"Amber was a firework," Lakyra Dawson, who described herself as Monroe’s "gay aunt," told Fusion. "She was young, full of life, like all the young girls are. Fearless. She was a cool person. She cared for everybody."

Monroe was fatally shot while leaving a car in the early morning of August 8, on Detroit's west side in an area police and local activists say is frequented by sex workers. The area is the same where police investigated three hate crimes against trans women one year ago, including a murder, according to Detroit TV station WXYZ.

Monroe's death marked the 12th trans woman killed in the U.S. this year, and caught the attention of national and local activists. Actress and trans advocate Laverene Cox posted Monroe's photo on her Instagram account, along with a heart emoticon and an image of an angel. Meanwhile, LGBT advocacy group Equality Michigan issued the following statement in the wake of Monroe's death: 

“Our hearts are heavy with grief that we have lost another vibrant member of our community too soon. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of Amber’s family and friends whom she clearly loved deeply.

"Her life was just beginning; I know that this loss will leave so many people with a hole in their lives and with more questions than answers. Let’s come together to celebrate her life, and work for real change so that our transgender sisters can be free from persecution. I know we can do better. We have to do better.”

Anyone with information about Monroe's murder should contact the homicide section of the Detroit Police Department at (313) 596-2260 or (800) SPEAKUP.

Illustration by Cristy C. Road 

"Kandis Capri was loved by many people," reports Tuscon Weekly's Anne Schmitt in a post about the August vigil held to mourn the 35-year-old trans woman's death. "There were lots of little kids who adored her playfulness and friendship, buddies from childhood who had accepted the change from [male name] to Kandis and only spoke lovingly of how Kandis remodeled the GI Joe they played with in their youth."

Capris was fatally shot outside a Phoenix apartment complex August 11. Local media did not cover the story at first, but The Guardian interviewed Capri’s family and reported that she was indeed transgender. No arrest has been reported in the case. Capri’s purse and phone were missing, but Capri’s family was not discounting the possibility that her murder was a hate crime.

The Arizona Republic reports that 500 people attended a memorial service for Capri at the Central Methodist Church in Phoenix. 

"[She] never judged anyone," Capri's aunt, Sylvia Mohler, told the Republic. "If you knew [her], that's the way [she] was."

Capri's mother, Adria Gaines, spoke lovingly of her daughter and called for justice. 

"They need to find out who murdered my baby," Gaines told the Republic with tears in her eyes. 

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Elisha Walker, 20, had been missing for eight months when her body was discovered in a "shallow grave" behind the Smithfield, N.C., home of a known gang member whom Walker had reportedly once dated. Police had recently found Walker's car, burned and abandoned in a field in another county, according to Charlotte TV station WSOC. The car led them to Angel Arias, 23, a member of the Latin Kings gang. He has been charged with murder and felony vehicle theft.

Walker was close with her family, who reported her missing in fall 2014 when she failed to return the calls and texts regularly exchanged between them. Walker's mother, while still using male pronouns to discuss her child, did acknowledge her daughter's trans identity in an interview with the Salisbury Post, a news outlet in Walker's hometown. 

Walker's mother remembered her child as a happy one, more inclined to play with dolls than "balls or a bat," according to the Post. Rhonda Alexander told the paper that Walker was a "free spirit."

"[She] lit up the room, was always funny and doing something to make people laugh," Alexander said.  

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Tamara Dominguez loved the Spanish phrase "todo porque soy bonita" ("everything because I'm beautiful").

At the 36-year-old Latina trans woman's memorial, the phrase became a mantra for her grieving family, friends, and community, according to Kansas City's KCTV. 

"We want people to remember that Tamara was a person, that she was a woman, that her identity as transgender was secondary," activist Randall Jenson told the local TV station.

Dominguez, of Kansas City, Mo., was the victim of a brutal vehicular homicide that police have not labeled a hate crime. She died August 15 at 3 a.m., according to KCTV.

Although police initially identified Dominguez by a male name and gender marker, Sgt. Kari Thompson of the Kansas City Police Department emailed The Advocate the official report, which included the woman's chosen name.

In the KCTV report immediately after Dominguez's death, her roommate, Juan Rendon, translated a message of forgiveness from her Spanish-speaking brother, Alberto, who was in tears.

"He just wants to say to the person that did that to her, that he would forgive them for what he did to her, and he hopes that he can forget what he did," Rendon told KSBH on behalf of Alberto. "We are not here to judge nobody, and he hopes that person really feels bad for what her did."

“I don’t think it’s fair somebody dies like this no matter what the problem was, what happened," Rendon added on his own behalf. "Nobody has the right to kill someone."

Anyone with information about the Dominguez case is asked to call the KCPD's TIPS hotline at (816) 474-TIPS (8477).

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

22-year-old Kiesha Jenkins "was one of the few people who wanted to change the world,” her friend June Martinez told Philadelphia TV station WCAU. “This could have happened to any of us.”

"This" was the most recent brutal murder of a trans woman of color. A crowd gathered at the 5th Annual Philly Trans March demanded justice for Jenkins as well as London Kiki Chanel, another trans woman killed this year in Philadelphia, and an end to transphobic violence. 

Jenkins was killed as she exited her car October 6 in what police believe was a robbery, beaten by as many as six men, who then shot the young woman in the back. Pedro Redding, a 24-year-old Philadelphia resident with past arrests for drug offenses and robbery of another trans woman, has been arrested in connection with Jenkins's death. Police are still searching for additional suspects, as Redding contends that he did not fire the gun. 

Jenkins was a Philadelphia native who graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Friends remembered her as "warm and vivacious," and "crazy in a good way," her cousin Alfreda Johnson told the paper. Jenkins was "comfortable" in her skin, and "artistic and meticulous about fashion," family told the paper. Jenkins reportedly hoped to attend art school and become a graphic designer. 

When her family gathered at her parents' home in Grays Ferry, Jenkins's mother was only able to manage a few words before she was overcome with emotion. She described her child as "jolly," and the kind of person who "kept you laughing," according to the Inquirer. Although her family used male pronouns to refer to Jenkins, the Inquirer notes that the young woman was well-loved and missed by her family members. 

"Guilt will kick in on them," Carol Jenkins told the Inquirer about the men who killed her granddaughter. "When they sleep at night, their souls are never going to rest. They had to be cowards, they had to be dogs, to gun a person down like that."

Illustration by Cristy C. Road

Zella Ziona had just begun to openly identify as her authentic self when her life was cut short after a man reportedly felt "embarassed" that she flirted with him in front of his friends. 

One day after Ziona was found dead on October 15, police in Washington, D.C., arrested 20-year-old Rico Hector Leblond, a resident of Germantown, Md. Police are still considering the possibility of hate-crime charges.

Friends extolled Ziona's elegance, bravery, and kindness to D.C. station WRC TV. 

"She just wanted to embrace her life. She wanted to show the world how to be transgender," Ziona's friend Jasmine Black stressed. She said she often called Ziona for inspiration when she was troubled. "She helped people. She inspired someone else named Chris to be himself."

"She was just amazing," added Barbie Johnson, another friend of Ziona, who considered her to be like a second mother to her daughter. "When Zella's around, there's not a single frown in the room." 

Not pictured (because photos from which to create illustrations were unavailable) are K.C. Haggard, a 66-year-old woman killed in a targeted drive-by attack Fresno, Calif., and Jasmine Collins, a 32 -year-old trans woman killed in June, whose trans identity was not reported until late August. She was reportedly stabbed to death in an argument over shoes in Kansas City, Mo. 

Illustrator Cristy C. Road is a Cuban-American illustrator and writer. Road self-published Greenzine in 1997 and it ran for 10 years. She has since released three novels, which tackle gender, cultural identity, mental health, and punk. Her most recent work, Spit and Passion, is a graphic coming-out memoir (about Green Day and staying in the closet). She’s currently working on the NEXT WORLD Tarot Card deck and her punk rock band the Homewreckers. Road hibernates in Brooklyn.