A 25-year-old Black transgender woman known as Red was shot and killed by an unknown male assailant in Chicago, Illinois, on Sunday at approximately 1:30 a.m. Her family is now calling for her murder to be investigated as a hate crime, and she is believed to be the 26th transgender or non-binary person to have been murdered this year. advocate Reported.
According to Redd’s friend, Michelle Lee, the killer walked past Redd and a group of friends early Sunday morning as they were meeting on a street in the city’s west side. The man reportedly spoke with a group of women nearby, then returned 30 minutes later and opened fire on Redd and his friends.
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During the escape, Redd was shot multiple times in the back and leg and died on the sidewalk. A 34-year-old man was also shot, and both were taken to hospital with serious injuries. Redd’s friends reportedly burst into tears when they found her body.
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“She wanted to be loved and respected,” her friend Trevon Pope said, “That’s the kind of person she was. She didn’t mess around with it. She loved and respected people.”
Ms Redd’s family are now demanding that her murder be investigated as a hate crime.
“We feel like this was a hate crime,” said his cousin, Mariya Phillips. said Chicago Sun-Times“I want to start [bringing] Awareness [that] “People are really attacking that community. We want people to know they’re being attacked.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), hate crimes against gender identity have increased in recent years. While the DOJ recorded two hate crimes related to gender identity in 2020 and zero in 2021, the number increased to nine in 2022, a 350% increase from 2020.
The actual number of gender identity-related hate crimes is likely much higher because not all violence against transgender and non-binary individuals is reported to police. Additionally, police, media, and victims’ families may misgender victims, effectively erasing their transgender or non-binary identities in the process.
According to the Transgender Homicide Tracking System from 2017-2022, 73% of confirmed murders of Black trans women involved a gun.
Source: LGBTQ Nation – www.lgbtqnation.com
