Today is the 16th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, which means it’s to time to pause and remember the lives lost to transphobic violence this year.
Transgender actress, advocate, and writer Courtney O’Donnell has compiled a staggering list of victims names and how they’d died for the Huffington Post.
“This is by no means a complete list,” she writes. “Most transgender deaths are unreported or lost due to misgendering. I should also point out that not everyone agrees on which types of deaths ought to be included in such lists. I’ve included domestic violence and suspicious deaths but excluded suicide. I’m starting with the most recent death and working my way back to November 1, 2014”
(Usually, out of respect to the blogger, I would highlight a portion of her post, and link back to her original article, but this really needs to be seen in its entirety.)
The list:
Zella Ziona: Lured and shot to death near Gaithersburg, Maryland in October, 2015. A suspect Rico Hector Leblond, was charged with murder.
Diana Sacayán: Prominent Argentine trans activist was stabbed to death in Buenos Aires in October, 2015. Police are looking for 2 suspects.
Rafaela Capucci: Killed at her place of work in Vogtsburg, Brazil in October, 2015.
Melvin: Shot to death in Detroit, Michigan on October 5, 2015.
Kiesha Jenkins: Shot to death in Philadelphia in October after being assaulted by a group of men. A suspect, Pedro Redding has been arrested. Police are looking for 2 other suspects.
Chocobar Marcela: Reported missing in Argentina in September 2015. Her burnt and dismembered skeletal remains were identified by DNA a month later.
Keyshia Blige: Declared dead at a hospital in Aurora, Illinois on March 7, 2015 after being shot while driving a car and subsequently crashing the vehicle. Death went unnoticed due to media misgendering until reported in UK media in August, 2015.
Jasmine Collins: Stabbed to death in Kansas City, Missouri on June, 2015. The killer prevented others from offering CPR. A suspect, Tia Townsel is charged with murder.
Tamara Dominguez: Kansas City, Missouri police say she was hit by a SUV, then run over twice as she was lying on the ground in August, 2015. Pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.
Elisha Walker (aka Angel Elisha Walker): Reported missing in November, 2014, body found in crude grave in Johnson County, North Carolina in August, 2015. A suspect, Angel Dejesus Arias is charged with murder.
Kandis Capri: Shot outside an apartment complex and pronounced dead upon arrival at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona in August, 2015. Police released a video in hope of finding the killer.
Ashton O’Hara: Brutally murdered in a Detroit, Michigan field in July, 2015. A suspect, Larry B. Gaulding, is charged with first degree murder.
Shade Schuler: Severely decomposed body discovered in a field in Dallas, Texas on July 29th, 2015. Cause of death unclear. Possibly shot. No suspects.
Amber Monroe: Shot to death in Detroit, Michigan, during the summer of 2015 (exact date unclear). Police still looking for a suspect as of October, 2015.
KC Haggard: Stabbed to death in Fresno, California in a July, 2015 incident that was captured on surveillance video. Her pleas for help were ignored by passerbys. Police are looking for suspects.
Nephi Luthers: Shot in the head in Georgetown, Guyana in July, 2015 by a person she was talking to. Police have arrested one suspect, Ron Forde, and are looking for a second suspect named Kanand Ojha,
India Clarke: Found shot to death in Tampa, Florida in July, 2015. A suspect, Keith Lamayne Gaillard, has been arrested.
Daya Rani Kinnar: The victim, a well-known trans politician, was shot to death in Uttar Pradesh, India in July, 2015. Two suspects were arrested and police are looking for a third.
Mercedes Williamson: DNA confirmed that a body stabbed to death and buried in George County, Mississippi in May, 2015 was that of the victim, a resident of Alabama. A suspect who knew the victim, Josh Brandon Vallum, was arrested after being turned in by his father.
Laura Vermont: Died in a São Paulo, Brazil hospital in June, 2015 from injuries not clearly specified. Two military police officers, Ailton de Jesus, and Diego Clemente Mende were arrested for their involvement in the death.
Francela Méndez Rodríguez: Noted trans activist murdered while visiting a friend in Sonsonate, El Salvador on May 31, 2015.
London Chanel (aka Londyn “Kiki” Chanel-Washington, London Banks): Stabbed to death in Philadelphia on May 18, 2015. A suspect, Raheam Felton, was arrested and charged with murder.
Yosvani Muñoz Robaina: Stoned to death in a public park in Pinar del Rio, Cuba on April 26, 2015. Three suspects were detained.
Almaroof Bijli: Burned and mutilated body was found on May 5, 2015 in Gungal, Pakistan.
Saima Shahzadi, Shah Zaib and Billi: Shot by motorcyclists in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in May, 2015.
Vanessa Santillan: Found in a London apartment strangled and beaten on March 28, 2015. A suspect, Joaquin Gomez-Hernandez, was arrested.
Two unidentified trans women: Gunned down after performing at a wedding in Pakistan in April, 2015.
Kristina Grant Infiniti: (aka Kristina Gomez Reinwald) Found dead in her Miami Florida home in Feb. 2015. Police classified the death as a homicide.
Sumaya Dalmar: (aka Sumaya Ysl) Found dead in Toronto, Ontario on Feb 22, 2015. Cause of death not released. Unclear if it is a homicide.
Bri Golec: Killed by her father during a domestic dispute in Akron Ohio on Feb. 13, 2015. The father, Kevin Golec was charged with murder.
Piu da Silva: Disfigured body was found January 24, 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, one day after a video showing the victim being tortured surfaced.
Penny Proud (aka Penny Proud Johnson): Fatally shot on Feb. 10. 2015 in New Orleans. Police believe it may have been a robbery attempt. Two suspects are being sought.
Taja DeJesus: Stabbed to death in February, 2015, in San Francisco. A suspect, James Hayes, committed suicide before being found by police.
Marisol Almeida: Found dead in her place of business on Dec. 24, 2014, in Ecuador.
Yazmin Vash Payne: Found by firefighters stabbed to death in Los Angeles on January 31, 2015. Her live-in partner, Ezekiel Jamal Dear, is charged with murder and the setting of their apartment on fire.
Papi Edwards: Shot to death in Louisville, Kentucky on January 9, 2015. A suspect, Henry Richard Gleaves, was charged with murder.
Hande Ö: Found strangled in her Vienna apartment on January 19, 2015. DNA evidence resulted in the arrest of an unnamed suspect.
Unidentified trans woman: Found shot to death in Badhber, Pakistan, in January, 22, 2015.
Lamia Beard: Died in a Norfolk, Virginia, hospital of gunshot wounds in January, 2015.
Ty Underwood: Shot to death on Jan. 26. 2015 in North Tyler, Texas. A suspect, Carlton Ray Champion, Jr., is charged with murder.
Gizzy Fowler: Gunned down in Nashville, Tennessee in November, 2014. A suspect, Mallory Antoine Porter, turned himself in to police.
Deshawnda Sanchez (aka Tata): Shot to death in Los Angeles in December, 2014. A suspect, Robert James Spells, has been arrested.
Keymori Shatoya Johnson: Shot to death in her Albany, Georgia (USA) home in December 2014. A suspect, Kuyaunnis James has been arrested.
Unidentified trans woman: Found murdered in Tblisi, the former Soviet state of Georgia in November, 2014.
There are links to stories on each of the victims here, as well as lists from past years.
The post Transgender Remembrance Day 2015: A List of the Lives Lost This Year appeared first on World of Wonder.