By Richard Hack
Zella Ziona was by all accounts a beautiful 21-year-old woman with a kindness that she extended to all those around her. Today, she is known as the 21st transgender murder victim in a senseless crime being pegged to pride. She was shot multiple times at point-blank range as a gang of teenagers looked on in amusement. Alleged to be behind the violence: Rico Hector Leblond, a 20-year-old convicted felon at whom Zella had purportedly smiled during an excursion in a shopping mall. She was there to buy flowers to put on her grandmother’s grave. She died in the alleyway behind the stores, the flowers at her side.
The violence that has found its target in primarily black transgendered females has reached a proportion this year that is unbelievable to civilized adults. Yet, the deaths are real and mounting with each month. Their tally is a witness to the brutality of man. And it serves as yet another wake-up call that violence has become so commonplace that it barely makes the news any longer.
While we did not know Zella or any other of the slain victims of intolerance, we pause to remember their gifts, their talents, and their memory. You are our sisters and our brothers, and we will never forget.
Papi Edwards, 20
January 9, 2015
Louisville, Kentucky
Papi (Sherman) Edwards was shot at the Fern Valley Hotel in Louisville, KY after admitting to be a transgender to a potential sexual partner. Prosecutors, who identified Papi as a male, have arrested and charged a suspect, Henry Gleaves, with murder.
Lamia Beard, 30
January 17, 2015
Norfolk, Virginia
Lamia Beard was shot on the 700 block of East 25th Street in Norfolk, VA. Lamia was labeled a male by police. She later died at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. No suspect has been arrested.
Ty “Nunee” Underwood, 24
Tyler, Texas
January 26, 2015
Ty Underwood was found shot in a automobile on 24th Street in Tyler, Texas. On February 9th, police arrested and charged 21-year-old football player Carlton Ray Champion Jr. with first-degree murder in Underwood’s death. He has pleaded not guilty.
Yazmin Vash Payne, 33
January 31, 2015
Los Angeles, California
Yazmin Payne was found in her apartment’s kitchen, dead of multiple stab wounds, as firefighters were responding to reports of a fire in a rear bedroom. Her boyfriend Ezekiel Dear, 25, was charged with the murder.
Taja Gabrielle de Jesus, 36
February 1, 2015
San Francisco, California
Taja DeJesus was found stabbed to death on the 1400 block of McKinnon Avenue in San Francisco. A suspect in the killing was later found stabbed to death himself.
Penny Proud, 22
February 10, 2015
New Orleans, Louisiana
Penny Proud, 22, was fatally shot multiple times by an unidentified assailant February 10th on the 1100 block of North Claiborne Ave., in the Treme district of New Orleans. Robbery was the suspected motive. No suspects have been named.
Bri Golec, 22
February 13, 2015
Akron, Ohio
Bri (Brian) Golec, 22, was stabbed to death in his home in Akron, OH. His father Kevin Golec, 53, an alleged heron addict, was charged with the crime.
Kristina Gomez Reinwald, 46
February 15, 2015
Miami-Dade, Florida
Kristine Gomez Reinwald, who performed in Miami under the name Kristi Grant Infiniti, was found stabbed to death in her home at 2045 SW 58 Ct., near Coral Gables. Although an ex-boyfriend was initially thought to be the murderer, no charges have been filed in the case.
Keyshia Blige, 33
March 7, 2015
Aurora, Illinois
Keyshia Blige was shot to death while driving in her car with a friend. Because she was initially reported as a male on police documents, the transgender identification was delayed for three months. No suspect has been arrested.
Mya Shawatza Hall, 27
March 30, 2015
Fort Meade, Maryland
Mya Shawatza Hall was shot and killed after trying to ram her car into the front gate of the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, MD. Mya was said to have been having a drug-fueled tryst before stealing a SUV for a joyride that ended in the crash and shooting. No charges were filed. A friend, 20-year-old Kevin Fleming, was also in the SUV at the time of the accident.
London Kiki Chanel, 21
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
May 18, 2015
London Kiki Chanel was stabbed to death in an abandoned building in the 2200 block of Ingersoll Street in Philadelpha, by her live-in boyfriend Raheam Felton. Felton is believed to have carried London outside the building before flagging down police in an unsuccessful effort to save her life.
Mercedes Williamson, 17
George County, Mississippi
May 30-June 1, 2015
Mercedes Williamson’s decomposing body was discovered June 2 in Rocky Creek, Alabama, allegedly buried two days earlier by 28-year-old Josh Brandon Vallum on his father’s rural property. Williamson was said to have been living with Mercedes in nearby Theodore, Ala., at the time, but both she and Vallum had home addresses in George County. Josh is facing first-degree murder changes. Williamson had been beaten to death.
Ashton O’Hara, 25
Detroit, Michigan
July 14, 2015
Ashton O’Hara was a gender fluid transgender who was stabbed to death and then run over by a car in a brutal slaying. Ashton’s suspected killer, 37-year-old Larry B. Gaulding was arrested and stands accused of first-degree murder.
India Clarke, 25
Tampa, Florida
July 21, 2915
India Clarke was killed with a single gunshot wound to the head, and her body left in University Community Park in Tampa, FL. Eighteen-year-old Keith Gaillard was charged with the crime. He had been arrested 25 times since the age of 11. Tampa police continue to list Clarke under her given name Samuel and list her sex as a male.
K.C. Haggard, 66
Fresno, California
July 23, 2915
One-time security guard K.C. Haggard was stabbed to death in the neck when she was walking around her Fresno neighborhood at 1:30 am in the morning. After walking over to a SUV, she was attacked by its passenger. The local police have no suspects, but are treating the murder as a hate crime.
Shade Schuler, 22
Dallas, Texas
July 29, 2015
The severely decomposed body of 22-year-old Shade Schuler was found in an empty field in the 5600 block of Riverside Drive in Dallas. Shade had been shot, and her body later dumped in the field. While the police were initially unable to determine the victim’s race, her photograph’s later revealed that she was black. No suspect has been charged in the crime.
Amber MonRoe, 20
Detroit, Michigan
August 8, 2015
Amber MonRoe was shot in the same park in Detroit where her friend Ashton O’Hara had been killed a month earlier. It is an area of town known for gay, straight and transgender prostition. Amber was shot once after exiting a car in the area. No suspects have been charged with the crime.
Kandis Capri, 35
Phoenix, Arizona
August 11, 2015
For Kandis Capri, the last moments of her life involved her car being towed from an apartment complex near 45th Avenue and Thomas Road in Phoenix. The transgender woman had recently enrolled at South Mountain Community College, intent on studying theology. She was shot multiple times in the front and back, and her purse and cell phone were missing from the scene.
Elisha Walker, 20
Johnston County, North Carolina
Remains found on August 13, 2015
The death of Elisha Walker was labeled a hate crime after her body was finally discovered nearly a year after she was reported missing. Her car had been found abandoned and burned in a field on October 23, 2014. By the time her body was discovered in a shallow grave the following August, nearly the only thing left of Elisha were memories of a vibrant student. Her boyfriend, gang member Angel Arias has been charged with the murder and felony larceny of a motor vehicle.
Tamara Dominguez, 36
Kansas City, Missouri
August 15, 2015
Tamara Dominguez’s death was brutal by anyone’s standards. She was deliberately hit and run over by an SUV, and then run over a second and third time, to make certain that the body was unrecognizable. Making the scene all the more unbelievable, it happened in the parking lot of a Methodist church. No suspects are being investigated, although there were eyewitnesses to the crime.
