Remembering Our Dead: May 2018
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 the trans people known to have been killed worldwide during May 2018.
I’ve also included details of those known lost to suicide where known, though most suicides tend to be unreported.
[TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE. MURDER]
<< April 2018
Muni
4 May 2018
Kotkay, Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan)
Shot
Muni was shot in the head at an engagement ceremony after an argument with a man. The alleged killer was handed over to the police by locals but witnesses claim that the police helped him to escape.
Muni’s murder was reported to be the 57th in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 2015.
http://menafn.com/1096813322/Pakistan-Another-transgender-person-shot-dead-in-Mansehra-KP
https://www.radiotnn.com/another-transgender-person-shot-dead-in-mansehra-kp/
https://www.dawn.com/news/1405619
https://www.facebook.com/TransActionPak/posts/1945354655476141
https://www.facebook.com/mukhtar.ali.5099/posts/2343349372358225?hc_location=ufi
Thalía Contigo
Age 17
4 May 2018
Móstoles, Comunidad de Madrid (Spain)
Suicide
Thalia died by suicide.
A 17-year-old young transsexual from Móstoles, took her own life this Friday in the face of “social pressure, institutional abuse and harassment” that she suffered, according to the Móstoles Feminista association, which spread the news on social networks.
“Thalia had just started her hormone treatment, but something, that something that is often called social pressure, institutional abuse or harassment, led Thalia to take her own life. We feel and we are outraged by cases like hers as we have to be”, the association wrote on its Facebook profile.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1045358372287944&id=455805881243199
https://www.facebook.com/generelliure/posts/1821670441472851
http://agencias.abc.es/agencias/noticia.asp?noticia=2809949
http://magcedonia.com/una-menor-trans-se-quita-la-vida-en-mostoles/
https://www.cuatro.com/noticias/espana/PSOE-Podemos-transexual-Mostoles-transfobia_0_2557800324.html
C. Alves
Age 23
8 May 2018
Vitória da Conquista, Bahia (Brazil)
Shot
C. was a trans man. He was shot dead in the street on Paramirim Avenue in the Patagonia Neighborhood on the morning of Tuesday 8th May 2018.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2018/05/08/c-alves-tiros-dh-ba-vitoria-da-conquista/
http://www.itapetingaagora.net/2018/05/camilinha-e-morta-tiros-em-conquista-na.html
http://www.pocoes24hs.com.br/2018/05/08/mataram-camilinha-na-patagonia/
Karla Patricia Flores-Pavon
Age 18
9 May 2018
Dallas, Texas (USA)
Strangled
On Wednesday 9th May, police officers discovered Karla Patricia Flores-Pavon had been choked to death in her North Dallas apartment.
Note that Karla’s name has been alternately spelled Carla by police reports documenting her death. Her Facebook profiles however use the former spelling.
Karla was only 18 years old, and just beginning her life. Blogger Monica Roberts shared this:
Karla is the 9th person we have lost to anti-trans violence this year in the US. She’s the seventh trans person of color and the second trans Latina we have lost in the US in 2018.
She also the first trans person in Texas we have lost this year. This murder also is infuriating me not only because it happened in my home state, but because she was just 18 years old.
She was just beginning to embark on her life journey, and who knows what Karla could have accomplished had she been allowed to simply live her life.
Her Facebook profiles are https://www.facebook.com/karlapatricia9131 and https://www.facebook.com/karla.pavon.7.
https://transgriot.blogspot.com/2018/05/number-9-rest-in-power-karla-patricia.html
https://www.dallasvoice.com/dallas-trans-woman-murdered-10253035.html
Name Unknown
12 May 2018
Dallas, Texas (USA)
Cause of death not reported
On Saturday 12th May Dallas police officers were dispatched to the 6900 block of Merriman Parkway after the body of a black transgender woman was found floating in the water at White Rock Creek.
The body was discovered by a kayaker and found in a “severe stage of decomposition,” according to the Dallas police. Investigators ruled the death as unexplained pending a determination from the medical examiner’s office.
Deputy Police Chief Thomas Castro said during a news conference that some injuries were found on the body, but he did not specify their nature. They are currently calling her death “unexplained.”
Several days earlier Karla Patricia Flores-Pavo had been found strangled in her North Dallas apartment. Castro said they do not believe the two cases were related.
https://transgriot.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/number-10-deceased-black-trans-womans.html
Isabel Borja Suárez
Age 29
13 May 2018
Venus del Río Quevedo, Los Rios (Ecuador)
Stabbed
Isabel was a stylist. She was stabbed to death in her salon in Venus del Río Quevedo, Los Rios (Ecuador) in the early hours of Sunday 13th May 2018.
Eight days earlier her boyfriend had threatened to kill her.
http://www.aldia.com.ec/dia-de-la-madre-se-tino-de-sangre-en-quevedo/
http://www.extra.ec/actualidad/muerte-gabinete-travesti-cronicaroja-cuchillo-FA2174968
http://elrio.ec/noticias-los-rios-ecuador/471835-su-pareja-la-habia-amenazado/
https://images.lahora.com.ec/losrios/noticia/1102156587/matan-a-isabel-con-una-punalada-en-el-pecho
Nino Fortson
Age 36
13 May 2018
Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
Shot
Nino was shot at around 1:53am on Sunday, 13th May at an address in Woods Drive in Northwest Atlanta.
Police who were on a traffic stop nearby found him after hearing gunshots. He was taken to hospital but did not survive.
https://twitter.com/ThatBoyYouLike/status/996022077063868417
Roxana Hernández
Age 33
13 May 2018
Milan, New Mexico (USA)
Died in ICE custody
Roxanna died from medical complications due to pneumonia while in the custody of US Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the privately run Cibola Correctional Facility in Milan, New Mexico.
It has been repeatedly reported that asylum seekers at the border are held in freezing holding cells (often referred to as “hieleras”) for days. Cibola is a facility for male inmates, which also suggests abusive behaviour by the authorities.
“Paired with the abuse we know transgender people regularly suffer in ICE detention, the death of Ms. Hernández sends the message that transgender people are disposable and do not deserve dignity, safety, or even life,” said Isa Noyola, Deputy Director at Transgender Law Center.
“It is alarming that transgender communities continue to face transphobic violence outside and inside of detention walls,” says Flor Bermudez, Legal Director at Transgender Law Center. “This is why TLC’s Trans Immigrant Defense Effort (TIDE) has organized to demand the liberation of transgender women from detention and the end of all detention and deportations. ICE has shown time and again it is incapable of protecting transgender women in detention. Transgender people should not be detained by ICE, at all.”
“We have been demanding the release of our trans communities detained in ICE detention centers because of rampant physical and brutal treatment from guards and other detainees,” said Jorge Gutiérrez, Executive Director of Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement.
“At a time when we are grieving the murders of transgender women of color, and the murder of 20 year-old Claudia Patricia Gómez Gonzalez by Border Patrol at the Texas-Mexico border, it is unconscionable that a transgender woman would die in the hands of ICE at the Cibola trans pod in immigration detention. The community, now more than ever, needs to organize to protect our most vulnerable, in particular transgender immigrant women who are surrounded by violence on a daily basis,” added Anandrea Molina, President of Organización Latina de Trans en Texas.
Transgender immigrants often seek asylum, withholding of removal or protection under the Convention Against Torture because of violence, rape and torture they have experienced in their countries of origin due to their gender identity or expression. However, once inside the United States, transgender immigrants may often face similar risks, as well as criminalization, as they are targeted and harassed by police or held in detention where they experience violence, discrimination, and an inability to access to medical care, all of which may lead to dire consequences.
https://transgenderlawcenter.org/archives/14287
https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2018/5/29/transgender-immigrant-dies-federal-custody
https://yubanet.com/usa/death-of-trans-woman-in-ice-detention-highlights-need-for-action/
Rosada Durán Romero
14 May 2018
Valencia, Carabobo (Venezuela)
Shot
Rosada was a sex worker. She was shot on the street at around 9pm on Monday 14th May 2018.
After arriving in hospital she named her attacker. She died there after suffering a convulsion and falling from a stretcher.
“No one answered me here if my [daughter] died from the shooting, from the loss of blood or from the blow that occurred when [she] fell from the stretcher. The police tell me that they are investigating that, but they do not answer me at all. They told me that if I came to know something, I told them, that is, they want me to do their job” said [her] mother, who was nervous because she fears that her son has been the victim of a hate crime for being [transgender].
Myrella Mhell
19 May 2018
Pirapora, Minas Gerais (Brazil)
Shot
Myrella was shot. No other details are known.
Her Facebook profile is https://www.facebook.com/myrella.mhell.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2018/05/22/m-m-tiros/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pgmreal/permalink/2007922372614387/
C. Peralta (“Pandora”)
Age 39
21 May 2018
Santa Rita, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)
Shot
Pandora was a hairdresser. They were shot 5 times late on Monday 21st May in the Alto das Populares neighborhood of Santa Rita, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
According to police, Pandora was visiting a friend and attending a party in the same neighborhood, when gang members invaded the area, dragged out the hairdresser and shot them dead.
“We heard a lot of screams. The killers were very angry. They used brutality and violence to kill them. There were a lot of shots” said one witness, who did not want to be identified.
Author note: This is one of those cases where the victim’s identity isn’t obvious. The only published photos may be current, or they may be of their deadself.
Their first name could be a deadname, or it could be one they used regularly. We have no way of knowing.
This is why their first name has been abbreviated and gender neutral pronouns are being used — quite honestly it’s the safest thing to do in cases like this. More information may come to light to clarify things, or it may not.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2018/05/21/c-peralta-pandora-cabeleireiro-6-tiros/
http://www.maispb.com.br/263461/travesti-e-assassinada-e-homossexual-e-baleado-em-santa-rita.html
http://diariodepetropolis.com.br/integra/policia-civil-investiga-assassinato-em-araras-149300
Gigi Pierce
Age 28
21 May 2018
Portland, Oregon (USA)
Shot
Gigi was shot on the sidewalk on Southwest 2nd Avenue sometime before 11:08pm on Monday 21st May 2018. She died at the scene. Sophia Adler (33) has been arrested and charged with murder.
According to friends Gigi was in the early stages of transition, and was homeless at the time of her murder.
My Bébé was an incredibly loving, gifted, beautiful disaster,” says Jason Johnson, who formerly dated Pierce. “I don’t want her to be reduced to a statistic, a number, or a stereotype.”
Friends described Pierce as both “full of laughter and light” and “deeply troubled.” She grappled all year with transitioning, starting to identify as Gigi. Many in Portland’s LGBTQ community still knew her by her male-assigned name and pronouns and did not know she was trans, according to friend Dawn Higgins-Wither.
Local news station KATU spoke to a witness they called Amber:
“I heard Gigi say, ‘Don’t touch me,’” Amber told KATU. “And the woman came up and hit Gigi in the face with her purse. That kinda set Gigi off. Gigi went to hit her, pulled back to hit her and the next thing I know my ear’s ringing. There had been a gunshot. It all happened so fast. It always does. It all happened so fast.”
https://transgriot.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/number-11-rest-in-power-gigi-pierce.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2018/05/police_investigating_death_of.html
Yamileth Quintero
Age 25
24 May 2018
Culiacán, Sinaloa (Mexico)
Shot
Yamileth was shot 4 times in the head at around 8pm near the perimeter fence of Culiacán International Airport. She died in hospital.
http://www.lineadirectaportal.com/publicacion.php?noticia=384061
https://www.eldictamen.mx/2018/05/nacional/matan-en-culiacan-a-reina-de-belleza-trans/
Beatriz Ribeiro
25 May 2018
Bacabal, Maranhão (Brazil)
Stabbed
Beatriz was stabbed multiple times by a group of at least five people inside a residence on Prazeres Street in the Trizidela neighborhood on 25th May.
She tried to run but the killers kept stabbing her.
Antonio Aragão Ramos da Silva Júnior was arrested and confessed to partipating in her murder.
On 17th August, the Civil Police also issued a warrant of pre-trial detention against Ronilson de Oliveira Costa, 18.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2018/05/25/290-beatriz-y-ribeiro/
http://www.blogdosergiomatias.com.br/2018/09/anao-e-preso-em-bacabal-acusado-de.html
https://informativoaca.blogspot.com/2018/09/anao-e-preso-em-bacabal-acusado-de.html
D. R. C.
Age 29
25 May 2018
Jundiaí, São Paulo (Brazil)
Beaten
D. was a clerk. She was found dead on the banks of a highway in Jundiaí after accepting a lift home from the driver of a vehicle. Her family believes she was a victim of homophobia.
Police found a bloodied piece of wood next to her body.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2018/05/25/d-r-c-atendente-pauladas/
http://www.jj.com.br/policia/rapaz-e-morto-a-pauladas-as-margens-da-anhanguera/
Maritza Harrera
Age 35
25 May 2018
Igualala, Guerrero (Mexico)
Stabbed
Maritza was stabbed in the body and neck in her salon on Melchor Ocampo street at around 8pm on Friday 25th May 2018. Witnesses reported that student had entered the premises and attacked her.
She was a stylist and also a DJ who presented on the local TV station Canal 12:
https://www.facebook.com/sk3media/videos/867809473385590/
http://www.noventagrados.com.mx/seguridad/asesinan-a-un-estilista-a-punaladas-en-iguala-guerrero.htm
https://www.facebook.com/PMNoticiasOficial/posts/807159579474185?hc_location=ufi
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1979056898773832&id=956786824334183
Chandraiah
Age 52
26 May 2018
Chandrayangutta, Hyderabad (India)
Beaten
A group of trans women were attacked by a mob who believed that they were part of a gang planning to kidnap children, based on malicious rumours spread via WhatsApp.
One of the women (named as Chandraiah in reports seen so far) died in hospital of her injuries.
I. Silva
29 May 2018
Itaberaí, Goiás (Brazil)
Shot
I. was shot 7 times in front of the beverage stall where he worked.
His Facebook profile is https://www.facebook.com/isadoraluz2008.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/i-silva-comerciante-sete-tiros/
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1858691297756539&id=100008470601109
S. Antolli
29 May 2018
Tapachula, Chiapas (Mexico)
Stabbed
S. was stabbed in the street by her partner after an argument at 4am on 29th May 2018.
Witnesses reported that her killer is an MS13 gang member.
https://ulisex.com/asesinan-a-chica-trans-en-chiapas-responsable-es-un-presunto-mara-salvatrucha/
http://www.nvinoticias.com/nota/93517/asesinan-joven-transexual
Marty Dragonova
Age 20
30 May 2018
Cardiff, Wales (United Kingdom)
Suicide
Marty took own life by overdosing on caffeine drinks and tablets. A coroner said it was clear that he intended to take his own life.
He was pronounced dead at 2am on Wednesday 30th May.
Marty was originally from Sofia in Bulgaria and had been studying English and French literature at Cardiff University. He had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria by a GP in 2017 and referred to an NHS gender identity clinic.
It is not known whether NHS waiting lists, treatment delays or the way he was treated by clinicians contributed to his suicide, but sadly this has to be a distinct possibility — two months earlier Jacob Whelan had died by suicide in the same city after struggling with long NHS treatment delays.
In a written statement provided to the court, Marty’s father Marian Dragonova described Marty as having an “interest in languages, particularly English and French” and said Marty had wanted to study in the UK for years.
Assistant Coroner Graeme Hughes said it was clear that Marty intended to take their own life.
He said: “On the 29th of May, [he] had consumed an extremely high amount of caffeine with the intention to take [his] own life.
“[He] was discovered by [his] flatmate and [he] was taken to hospital but died shortly after. My conclusion is that how Marty came about [his] death is one of suicide.”
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. Visit http://www.samaritans.org for more details.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/transgender-student-20-took-life-13274028
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/student-died-after-overdosing-caffeine-15167194
Nayra Matos
Age 25–30
31 May 2018
Maracanaú, Ceará, (Brazil)
Shot
Nayra’s body was found on a public road after local people heard gunfire. No suspects were seen, but 14 shell casings were found nearby.
Her Facebook profile is https://www.facebook.com/renayra.martins.9.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2018/05/31/nao-identificada-dhpp-tiros/
http://cnews.com.br/cnews/noticias/126074/travesti_e_executada_na_pajucara_sexto_caso_no_ano
http://www.miseria.com.br/?page=noticia&cod_not=221469
https://elberfeitosa.blogspot.com/2018/06/duas-travestis-sao-assassinadas-tiros.html
Patrícia Pereira
Age 49
31 May 2018
Maracanaú, Ceará, (Brazil)
Shot
Patricia was a janitor. There are conflicting reports of her death — some state that she was shot by two men inside her house in Luzardo Viana neighborhood, and others that she was shot by a man on a bicycle just outside her home.
https://homofobiamata.wordpress.com/2018/05/31/patricia-faxineira-dhpp-tiros/
http://www.miseria.com.br/?page=noticia&cod_not=221469
https://elberfeitosa.blogspot.com/2018/06/duas-travestis-sao-assassinadas-tiros.html
June 2018 >>
Rest in peace. We will not forget.
TDoR 2018: 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 and the members of the Trans Violence News Facebook group.
