Remembering Our Dead: January 2017
Every year on or around 20th November people worldwide gather for the Transgender day of Remembrance to to remember the trans people we have lost to murder and violence in the past year, as reported by the Trans Murder Monitoring Project and published by Transgender Europe (TGEU).
The following are details of trans people known to have been killed worldwide during January 2017 (see TDoR 2017: Say their names. Learn their stories. Remember them for an index covering the whole year).
[TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE. MURDER]
Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow
Age 28
1 Jan 2017
Sioux Falls, South Dakota (USA)
Cause of death unknown
Jamie Lee was a two-spirit trans woman. She was found dead at home and her death is being treated as homicide.
https://transgriot.blogspot.com/2017/03/arrest-made-in-jamie-lee-wounded-arrow.html
Pamela Macedo Panduro
Age 29
1 Jan 2017
Le Plata, Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Death in custody
Pamela died in custody in Le Plata (Argentina) on 1st January 2017. Her death was the first of four (the others being Angie Velázquez Ramírez, Brandy Bardales Sangama and Damaris Becerra Jurado) during 2017 in the same area in similar suspicious circumstances.
All were Peruvian migrants and Otrans activists. Otrans reports that in the city the police routinely make arbitrary arrests of trans women. The detainees are routinely held without charge for long periods in degrading conditions without access to healthcare.
Pamela was Peruvian and worked in La Plata with the Otrans activist organisation. In 2014 she had been chosen as Miss Latin America Trans.
On 9th November 2016 her home was raided and she was detained in a police station in Ensenada and referred a month later to Unit 32 of the Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service of Florencio Varela, where she was held until 23rd December 2016 when she was admitted to hospital. She died 8 days later.
“The conditions of detention end up damaging the lives of the compañeras. It is a vulnerable collective; More than 50% have chronic diseases, “said Vázquez Haro, and explained that” The standards of the Supreme Court, the province and La Plata are profoundly harsh: they do not apply the Arriola and Zambrano Judgments.”
“The first of these rulings declared unconstitutional the punishment for possession of marijuana for personal use. The second, meanwhile, showed the abusive practices of the platense police to persecute, strip and mistreat trans women while prohibiting them from being inspected on public roads and at the police station.”
http://cosecharoja.org/piden-justicia-por-miss-latinoamerica-trans-muerta-en-prision/
http://revistaeltranvia.com.ar/otrans-reclama-por-la-muerte-de-pamela-macedo-panduro/
Mesha Caldwell
Age 41
4 Jan 2017
Canton, Mississippi (USA)
Shot
Mesha was a make-up artist. Her body was found lying in a road after she was shot everal times.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/01/06/transgender-make-up-artist-shot-dead/
L. C. Marinho
Age 33
4 Jan 2017
Nova Cruz (Brazil)
Stabbed
L. C.was stabbed at least 23 times in in the early hours of Wednesday night inside their home in the Vida Nova complex in the Santa Luzia neighbourhood of Nova Cruz.
According to information from relatives, at around 4:00 am neighbours heard screams coming from the house. When they opened the door they found L. C. already dead.
http://claudiolimanews.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/homem-e-morto-em-nova-cruz-na-madrugada.html
http://www.xuadoagreste.com.br/2017/01/homossexual-e-morto-com-23-facadas-em.html
http://identidademandacaru.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/homem-e-morto-em-nova-cruz-rio-grande.html
Sean Hake
Age 23
6 Jan 2017
Sharon, Pennsylvania (USA)
Shot
Sean was shot by police while sitting in a car. He may have been experiencing a mental health crisis at the time.
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/01/09/a-trans-man-has-been-killed-in-a-police-shooting/
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/01/media_criticized_over_pronoun.html
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/01/17/sean-hake-da-news-conference-details/
Michelle de la Cruz González
Age 60
6 Jan 2017
Piedras Negras, Coahuila (Mexico)
Beaten
Michelle’s body was found in a pool of blood in a room in the Rancho Nuevo bar. She had been beaten to death with a hammer.
https://ulisex.com/reportan-asesinato-violencia-dentro-bar-travesti/
W. H. Soares dos Santos (“Aila Fontinelle”)
Age 16
6 Jan 2017
Teresina (Brazil)
Shot
According to witnesses, Aila was in front of her home when two minors arrived on a motorcycle and shot her. “Everything went very fast, they gave no chance of defense to the victim, they fired and fired.”
Police suspect a revenge crime as one of the victim’s brothers is suspected of murdering a relative of the murderer.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2017/01/05/w-h-s-tiros-pi-teresina/ [DEAD LINK]
http://identidademandacaru.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/travesti-e-assassinada-por-menores-na.html
Puriwit Chanasit (Keng)
Age 28
6 Jan 2017
Hatyai Songkla (Thailand)
Beaten
Keng was beaten to death.
Name Unknown
7 Jan 2017
Guerrero (Mexico)
Shot
The victim was shot.
Heart de Chavez
Age 26
10 Jan 2017
Metro Manilla (Philippines)
Shot
Heart was shot by an unknown assailant believed to be connected to the police. Her body was found inside an empty house with a bullet hole in her cheek and her legs curled under her body.
The shooter casually walked away “as if nothing happened”, leaving her bleeding from her face and chest.
Fairfax Media photographer Kate Geraghty documented the case of 26-year-old transgender Heart de Chavez, which has been sent to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, as a case study of alleged police complicity in the killings.
First there was an arrest and alleged police extortion. Then execution.
At the age of 14, Heart grew her hair long, started taking hormone pills and found work washing towels at a beauty parlour.
When her father died when she was in her early 20s she was left to provide for her mother and two single sisters with four children. “She was very kind, generous and good,” said Heart’s sister Arriana.
But Heart’s debts grew until she started dealing in drugs last year, earning 500 pesos ($13) for each transaction.
Police arrested her in January and demanded money but she couldn’t pay, her family says. At least seven masked men later burst into the plywood house in a slum where Heart and her family lived, stepping over children sleeping in a narrow hallway.
Amid the children’s screams one of the men grabbed Heart by the hair and pounded her head on a table, family members say.
Heart’s 61-year-old mother Elena begged for the men not to hurt her as they dragged her out crying. “Ma, help me,” Heart screamed.
Minutes later four gunshots rang out across the neighbourhood.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/861529/transgender-on-drug-watch-list-shot-dead-in-navotas
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/158886-impunity-end-drug-war
J. C. N
11 Jan 2017
Estado de Mexico (Mexico)
Shot
J.C was shot 16 times while buying cellphone accessories.
https://mexico.quadratin.com.mx/acribillan-travesti-naucalpan/
Symone Marie Jones
Age 19
12 Jan 2017
Fayetteville, North Carolina (USA)
Industrial silicone
Symone died from complications resulting from an unlicenced silicone injection procedure performed in a hotel. The woman who performed the procedure was was jailed after being charged with second degree murder and accepting a manslaughter charge under a plea bargain.
Symone’s Facebook profile is https://www.facebook.com/symone.jones.9440.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/barry-saunders/article140168163.html
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article139644513.html
http://abc11.com/news/woman-dies-after-silicone-injection/1707161/
Mierala da Silva
Age 42
13 Jan 2017
Bauru (Brazil)
Beaten
Mierala was found unconscious with serious injuries to the skull, lost teeth and a fractured jaw after being badly beaten on 15th September 2016 in block 8 of the Copernicus Mall, Santa Edwirges Park.
Doctors found that she suffered a cerebral edema. She died in hospital four months later.
Her assailants have not yet been identified.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2017/01/06/mirela-da-silva-42-anos-espancada-sp-bauru/ [DEAD LINK]
A. Villegas
Age 30
14 Jan 2017
Quilmes (Argentina)
Shot
Villegas was shot in the head by a 15 year old boy, reportedly while participating in an orgy initiated by him and his friends.
http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/articulo/jovencito-de-15-anos-asesina-travesti-luego-de-una-orgia
Name Unknown
Age 30
14 Jan 2017
Magdalena Contreras (Mexico)
Shot
A passer-by spotted two human feet poking out from a container. The victim was found with several contusions in her neck, supposedly caused by a cutting object.
TvT partner organisation Centro de Apoyo a las Identidades Trans & El Mexicano, 14.01.2017
Moranguinho
15 Jan 2017
Paranangua (Brazil)
Shot
Moranguinho (“Strawberry Shortcake”) was shot at a bus stop located at Avenida Bento Munhoz da Rocha Neto, in Agari Park.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2017/01/15/derek-moranguinho-tiros-pr-paranagua/ [DEAD LINK]
Name Unknown
Age 25
17 Jan 2017
San Salvador (El Salvador)
Shot
The victim was shot in the head and her body abandoned on the road to Comalapa, in the jurisdiction of Santo Tomás, San Salvador.
According to the authorities the victim had been killed somewhere else and her body carried there to be dumped.
http://www.tn8.tv/cronica-tn8/402131-salvador-matan-travesti-tiran-cadaver-carretera/
http://elmundo.sv/hallan-cadaver-de-travesti-en-carretera-a-comalapa/
Anahí Tapia Llamas
Age 23
18 Jan 2017
Guadalajara (Mexico)
Shot
Anahí was shot and killed inside the Caudillos bar in Guadalajara. Her body was dragged into the street and found face down by municipal police with at least two gunshot wounds to the chest at around 4am.
https://www.perriodismo.com.mx/2017/01/19/asesinan-a-mujer-trans-de-colima-en-
Paula Fernandes (“Lady Dayana”)
Age 35
19 Jan 2017
Parintins (Brazil)
Stabbed
Paula was stabbed 13 times. Witnesses claimed that afterwards her killer sat in a bar near the square, drank a beer, smoked a cigarette and only left after he had shouted that he had just killed her.
Investigators from the clarimed that the victim was a street person, an alcoholic, and did sex work.
https://goqueer.blogspot.com/2017/01/brazil-two-transgender-women-cold.html
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/paula-fernandes-34-anos-facadas-am-parintins/ [DEAD LINK]
https://www.ojornaldailha.com/homossexual-e-assassinado-com-13-facadas-em-parintins/
Sandrão na Piraquara
19 Jan 2017
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Shot
Sandrão was shot seven times while inside a car.
Her Facebook profile is https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011996294979.
On a Facebook post lamenting her death, a friend wrote:
“My dear friend, I will always remember you with your joy and your advice. I will love you forever, my heart is in pieces. You are certainly in a wonderful place !! Whoever knew you today cries this loss.”
https://goqueer.blogspot.com/2017/01/brazil-two-transgender-women-cold.html
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2017/01/19/sandra-tiros-dh-rj-rio-de-janeiro/ [DEAD LINK]
https://www.facebook.com/PadreMiguelNews/posts/804697373002135
https://jornalhorah.com.br/travesti-e-assassinada-em-realengo/
https://odia.ig.com.br/rio-de-janeiro/2017-01-19/travesti-e-executada-em-realengo.html
Kristina Trance
Age 24
19 Jan 2017
Voronezh (Russia)
Beaten and strangled
Kristina was beaten and strangled to death in an apartment on Srednemoskovskaya Street. Her murderer then set fire to the apartment containing her body.
Vikichy
Age 25
20 Jan 2017
Cali (Colombia)
Stabbed
Vikichy was stabbed twice, the first time in her chin and the second in her stomach.
http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/cali/asesinada-mujer-transgenero-en-cali-38639
Imli
Age 19
21 Jan 2017
Lahore (Pakistan)
Slit wrist
Imli’s wrist was cut by her boyfriend. He has been arrested by the police, but her family is not willing to share her photos and details on social media.
TvT partner organization Wajood & Facebook post
Name Unknown
23 Jan 2017
Sinaloa (Mexico)
Cause of death not reported
The victim’s body was found in a wasteland near a lagoon. The police also found the remains of another body (killed several months earlier) nearby.
The murder was reported on 23rd January 2017, but the date of the murder is unknown, as is the cause of death.
http://www.lineadirectaportal.com/movil/publicacion.php?id=323974
Renildo dos Santos
Age 42
26 Jan 2017
Itabaianinha (Brazil)
Shot
Renildo was in a home with two others, when two assailants arrived on a motorcycle and shot her 7 times. She died on the spot. One of her companions was also shot but survived.
Note that Renildo was named as “J. A. dos Santos” in the TGEU list.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2017/01/26/jose-augustinho-dos-santos-42-anos-tiros-se-itabaianinha/ [DEAD LINK]
http://portalalarde.com/homossexual-e-o-assassinado-dentro-de-casa-em-itabaianinha/
https://www.facebook.com/informacoespoliciais/posts/1636973892983333
Ágatha Lios
28 Jan 2017
Brasilia (Brazil)
Stabbed
Ágatha was stabbed by a group of assailants after they had chased her into a postal depot. CCTV footage showed that the staff there did not attempt to prevent the attack taking place.
Her murder may have been ordered by a female pimp and her husband.
One of Agatha’s friends relates that she has never been involved in intrigues or street confusions. Vitória also states that the victim had been “expelled” from Taguatinga by one of the women responsible for the work of the transvestites in the city. Then the young woman would have worked for a while on the Pilot Plan and, a few days later, returned to the satellite city. “She had been threatened several times, but wanted to stay to work, because the scene of prostitution in Taguatinga works 24 hours,” he says.
Her Facebook profile is https://www.facebook.com/agatha.liosii.3
https://goqueer.blogspot.com/2017/01/brazil-transgender-agatha-lios-stabbed.html
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2017/01/28/agatha-lios-facadas-df-brasilia/ [DEAD LINK]
Muskan
Age 25
27 Jan 2017
Lahore (Pakistan)
Throat cut
Three boys slit her throat in her flat. They have not yet been arrested.
TvT partner organization Wajood & Facebook post, 03/02/2017
Silvana Fabian Pineda
Age 34
28 Jan 2017
La Dorada (Colombia)
Shot
According to local reports Silvana was a drug user. She was shot 4 times from behind by assailants on a motorcycle.
Paola Oliveira
Age 30
30 Jan 2017
Russas, Ceará (Brazil)
Beaten
Paola was beaten to death with a piece of wood.
https://goqueer.blogspot.com/2017/01/brazil-paola-oliveira-transgender-woman.html
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2017/01/30/paola-oliveira-30-anos-pauladas-ce-russas/ [DEAD LINK]
http://www.monolitospost.com/2017/01/30/travesti-quixadaense-e-morta-a-pauladas-em-russas/
http://quixerenoticiass.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/cadaver-de-travestir-e-encontrado-em.html
https://blogdogeso.blogspot.com/2017/01/homossexual-de-quixada-e-morto-pauladas.html
Rest in peace. We will not forget.
TDoR 2017: Say their names. Learn their stories. Remember them
With thanks to the many volunteers reporting acts of violence against trans people worldwide, and in particular to Transgender Europe.
