Speaking for the Dead: Transgender Day of Remembrance


Doorway

Mort
At some instant

one day

the words will cease to flow

their creator (or vessel)

having passed through

the Door

between herenow

and therethen

The words left behind

the ideas they expressed

the actions they instigated

will be all

that remains

to weigh the meaning

of this particular existence

Regret is extinguished

if the words

have expressed

peacefulness

concern and care

and a life lived well

–Robyn Serven

–September 21, 2007

Live fast, die young and leave a good-looking corpse!

–John Derek, Knock on Any Door (1949)

The quote is often erroneously attributed to James Dean.

Some of the murder victims whose stories are told after the break may have tried to live with that philosophy, but the violence visited upon them almost assuredly negated the last part.  Being set on fire, run over by a car, shot in the face, or stoned to death usually preclude a “good looking corpse.”

A few comments of note:  In Brazil, where most of the murders took place, those who would probably be regarded as transgender women here are referred to as travesti (transvestites) and so male pronouns are most often used.  I tried to correct that as much as possible.  It is also the case that the Police in Brazil are whole-heartedly in favor of blaming the victim, so revenge, drug involvement, “working the program” (prostituting), revenge, or “reckoning” are almost always given as the suspected motives.  Gay men in drag, on the other hand, are usually thought to be victims of homophobia.  Finally, an autopsy of a transgender woman in Brazil is usually called a necropsy…a word which we reserve for non-sentient animals.

All of those comments may shed light on why there are so many murders in Brazil (77 out of the 118).  The United States is second, with 10, (but we try harder…I’m sure we can catch up).  Mexico is third with 9.

The list I have generated os colated from several sources, including the Transgender Violence Portal  and Memorializing 2014 at the International Transgender Day of Remembrance site.

Five transgender women were reportedly among the dead after a Mexico nightclub was firebombed.  They are not included in the following, but are included in the total.

 photo Cowdrey_zps4dcd29cf.jpgNovember 20, 2013:  Jacqueline Cowdrey, 50, Worthing, West Sussex, UK.  The 50-year-old had argued with a man in Bedford Row, close to the Vintner’s Parrot pub in Warwick Street, Worthing, on the evening before her body was found.

 photo Rosa_zps7dd0dbd9.jpgNovember 24. 2013:  Rosa Ribut, 35, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, blunt force trauma

The victim has been identified by the Edmonton Police Service as Jon Syah Ribut.  However, she also used the names Rose, Rosa and Dido. In the Edmonton Journal, Paula Simons noted that  “… it’s not clear whether Ribut saw himself as transgender — or as a gay man who sometimes liked to cross-dress — or as something else altogether (waria, for instance)….” Although Simons (a journalist who is is trans-aware and trans-positive) uses male names and pronouns, it’s clear that she’s conflicted about it and knows that more information is needed. I will be using a female name and pronouns instead, but want to stress that both Simons and I are making a guess, and either of us could just as easily be wrong.

Ribut was Indonesian on a Temporary Foreign Worker Visa, she worked at a 7-11, presenting as a male.  She worked nights presenting a a female escort.  It is unclear if she had been trafficked to Canada to do sex work.

He joked online that he was a snow princess, who’d come here to find his snow prince…

 photo Betty_zpsd9239018.jpgDecember 4, 2013:  Betty Skinner, 52, Cleveland, OH, blunt force trauma

 photo Brittany_zpsd2f2189b.jpgDecember 5, 2013:  Brittany Stergis, 22, Cleveland, OH, GSW to the head

December 29, 2013:  Unidentified, Teresina, Piauf, Brazil, multiple stabbed to death in motel room

January 1, 2014:  Madeleine Chipana, Peru, traumatic brain injury.  Victim was beaten by her partner

January 1, 2014:  Nahomi Lui Inuma, 32, Peru. beaten to death

January 5, 2014:  Elizaber Oliviera de Mesquita, 39, Teresina, Piauf, Brazil, stoned to death

January 5, 2014:  Unidentified, 45. Trujillo La Libertad, Peru, beaten to death

January 5, 2014:  Alondara Hildago Cardenas, 21, Zulia, Venezuela, stabbed to death

January 6, 2014:  Michele Coelho de Morais, 39, Espirito Santo, Brazil. suffocated in a jiu-jitsu hold.  Victim was attacked by boyfriend.

January 8, 2014:  Paloma Galvão Moreira, Belem, Pará, Brazil, multiple GSW to head and chest, believed to be revenge slaying.

January 9, 2014:  Unidentified, Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, no details.

 photo Rayka_zpsfd3dd232.jpgJanuary 10, 2014:  Rayka, Tomaz, 20, Forteleza, Ceará, Brazil, multiple knife wounds in her home, died slowly after suffering for hours before being found.  She was bound and gagged.

 photo PrinceJoe_zpsd056b71e.jpgJanuary 13, 2024:  Prince Joe Sanchez, 18, Belize City, Belize, multiple stab wounds, dumped in street.  The victim was lured out of her home and had reportedly been receiving death threats via text message.

January 10, 2014:  Luana, 20, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, gunshot to the chest in apparent execution.

 photo Toni_zps3a1b1979.jpgJanuary 16, 2014:  Toni Gretchen (aka Black Panther), 50, Teresina, Piauf, Brazil, multiple stab wounds  The victim was executed ouside of Bar Bueno, by gunshots to the head and legs from a gun restricted to use by the military.  The shooter fled in a dark-colored car.  The victim had been assaulted and hospitalized in the same area.uary 10, 2014:  Luana, 20, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, gunshot to the chest in apparent execution

January 19, 2014:  Crystal Nascimento de Araújo, 22, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil,  Victim shot by man on a motorcycle.

January 20:  Suman Singh, Guwahati, Assam, India, Ritually set on fire.

January 23, 2014:  Catalina Ramirez, 21, Cali Valle del Cauca, Columbia, stabbed and suffocated in her home.

January 24, 2014:  Luto Buxexa, Brazil, tortured.  Victim was bound and then brutally tortured in her home for no known reason.

January 25, 2014:  Unidentified, Mexico, throat slit.  Hate crime.

January 25, 2014:  Antonio José Araya, Buenos Aires, Argentina, shot to death in bedroom.

January 26, 2014:  Ador Kha, 24, Sylhet, Bangladesh.  Family filed a murder case against five assailants, including son of local legislator.

January 27, 2014:  Thifani Matheus, 18, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.  A man who was arrested admitted to stabbing a transoman named Leticia twice and led police to the body, which was identified by the family of a transwoman named Thifani.  Family members say the body was dismembered and disfigured.

January 27, 2014:  Luto Gutta, São Paulo Brazil, hanged.  Victim was beaten by a group of prejudiced people and then hanged using her own garments.

January 27, 2014:  Helium Thomas, Boa Vista Roraima Brazil, abdominal stab wounds.

January 28, 2014, Joice Vieira Freitas, 32, Teresina, Piauf, Brazil, randomly chosen to receive multiple stab wounds from  in doorway to motel room

January 28, 2014:  Jennifer Castro, 24, Santa Fe, Santa Fe, Argentina, stabbed in the neck and back.  The assailant was a 14-year-old boy.

January 28, 2014:  Tissa, Brazil, dismembered.  Body parts were found stuffed into a barrel.

January 29, 2014:  Sarita do Sopão, 35, Itabela, Bahia, Brazil, Victim was shot twice while sitting outside a house talking with friends in the St. Joseph’s Panorama neighborhood Ubirajara Brito, by two gunmen who fled on foot.  Sarita was a civil servant of the City of Itabela, worked in the secretary of social assistance in the delivery of soups to needy families program. She was well known in town and had many friends. Neighbors were startled by the crime.  Police suspect a crime of passion.

January 29, 2014:  Willow de Souza Cruz, 32, Salguero, Pernambuco, Brazil, beaten and stoned to death, The victim identified as a gay man but was in drag at the time of the murder.

January 29, 2014:  Unidentified, Bahia, Brazil, beaten to death.  Witnesses say two unidentified minors approached the victim and beat her to death for no known reason.

January 30, 2014:  Unidentified, 35, Buenos Aires, Argentina, beaten to death.

February 1, 2014:  Raíssa Xavier, 30, Cuiabá,Mato Gross, Brazil.  Victim was shot six times to the head and chest inside her residence.  Raíssa was a bar manager who was a suspect in the murder of Bruno da Silva Saratti in December.   Saratti had been told he would be shot if he came back to the bar, but scaled a wall to get in anyway.  Police suspect revenge in the murder of Raíssa.

February 3, 2014:  Unidentified, São Paulo Brazil, stabbed to death in the street.

February 4, 2014:  Alison Reyes Lopez, 26, Mexico, stabbed to death.

 photo tatty_zps6177fc7a.jpgFebruary 7, 2014:  Tatty, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, cause of death unknown.  The victim had facial injuries.

February 11, 2014:  Rafaela dos Santos, 32, Recife, Brazil.  Rafaela was using a pay phone to call her husband in Italy when she was assassinated by two men on a motorbike.  Ten shots were fired.

Rafaela was described by friends as being a good person of exemplary behavior who was never involved in any criminal situation.

February 11, 2014:  Cristiano Ali Portela Rosin, 39, Paraná Brazil, shot four times.

February 14, 2014:  Noiser Java Paima, 26, Peru. shot to death.

February 14, 2014:  Denises Cobos Reyes, 22, Ecuador, tortured using a broken bottle.

February 17, 2014:  Cuenca Adrian, 26, Ecuador, no details.

February 18, 2014:  Alex Madeiros, 8, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Alex was beaten to death by his father for refusing to cut his hair and liking women’s clothes and belly dancing.  The father confessed to regular beatings to “teach him to become a man.”  Alex died of internal hemorrhage.

February 19, 2014:  Paulete, 40, Taguatinga, Brazil, ten gunshots to the face, 11 stab wounds to the abdomen, hip, armpit, chest, and left arm.

February 20, 2014:  Javier Noyle, 19, Lima, Lima, Peru, shot to death.

February 22, 2014:  Sevda, Turkey, no details.

 photo Camila_zps8efdeb36.jpgFebruary 19, 2014:  Camila Veronezi, 24, Bragança Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil, suffocation.  The body was dumped amidst garbage along a country road with a plastic bag covering the head and two bloody photographs nearby.  Camila was a hairdresser who had been reported missing by her mother.

 photo Lu_zps9557da88.jpgFebruary 23, 2014:  Lu da Silva, Nova Serrana, Minas Gerais, Brazil.  Police said Lu was involved in drug trafficking and that revenge was a possible motive.

February 24, 2014:  Unidentified, Bragança Paulista São Paulo Brazil, shot 15 times.  The body was found in the middle of a wasteland.  Vicitm was apparently used for target practice.

February 26, 2014:  Unidentified, Argentina, burned to death.  Body was found inside a burning bus.

February 27, 2014:  Unidentified, São Paulo, Brazil, gunshots.

February 28, 2014:  Unidentified, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, gunshots.

February 28, 2014:  Kitana, 18,  Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil. Three gunshot wounds to the head.  Thrown out of her home by her father, Kitana turned to prostitution, was arrested and served time in prison, where she was repeatedly raped.  Upon her release, she was blackmailed by her pimp into continuing to be a prostitute.  She told a friend she would either end up in jail or dead.

I wanted her to look for a job and with eyes full of tears she said dying was something she did not fear because I knew it would not lack for company.

Tathiane Araujo

 photo Andressa_zps57732cff.jpgMarch 1, 2014:  Andressa Pinheiro, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil,  Assassination: 15 stab wounds, dragged to where the body was disposed, with a fractured skull.  Police say that Andressa had been arrested several times for possession of drugs and weapons.

March 1, 2014:  Unidentified, Brazil, burned to death.

March 1, 2014:  Agamemnon, São Paulo, Brazil, stabbed to death, 12 to 15 times to the neck.

March 1, 2014:  Unidentified, Brazil, Single shot to the head.

March 2, 2014:  Tatiana Martinez, Columbia, shot to death.

March 2, 2014:  Unidentified, Brazil, beaten to death.

March 3, 2014, Milles, São Paulo Brazil, shot to death.

March 5, 2014:  Rose Maria Queiroz, 32, Brás, São Paulo, Brazil, stabbed in the neck.  The 19-year-old serial killer was arrested by civil police after an insurance broker friend of the victim identified the suspect, who was caught on CCTV running away.  The suspect, Isaiah Airton da Silva, 19, is accused of three other murders.  The friend had been git on by the suspect while having drinks with the victim in a bar.  The other victims were a musician, a salesperson and a homeless person.  Rose Maria was a housekeeper.

March 8, 2014:  Jessica, Tabasco, Mexico, hit by cars.  Police reportedly saw victim thrown into the street but did nothing.

 photo demetrios-karahalios-drag-queen_zpscd244d8a.jpgMarch 8, 2014:  Demetrios Karahalios, 48, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, foul play.  Nationwide search for drifter thought to be the killer.  Also known as Coco, the victim worked as a cook in two gay bars.

March 9, 2014:  Unidentified, Brazil, shot to death.

March 10, 2014:  Vanessa Alves da Silva, Brazil, strangled.  Body was found under a bed.

March 12, 2014:  Vitória, 16, Boa Vistam Rorima, Brazil, shot twice in the chest.  Rumor was that Victory had stolen a cell phone recently, so police hypothesized that the motive was revenge.

March 14, 2014:  Unidentified, Jardim Ingá, Goiás, Brazil, burned to death in a field.  A body was discovered burned in an open field.  The victim was thought to be trans because the fingernails had been polished and the partially burned clothes were women’s clothes.

March 17, 2014:  Paulette Dos Santos, 19, Teresina, Piauf, Brazil, shot in the groin. A body was found on the bank of a river, thought to have died from a drug overdose.  Autopsy revealed a gunshot to the groin which severed the femoral artery.  Victim bled to death.

March 22, 2014:  Aldana Palacios, 50, Argentina, no details.  Body was found in a warehouse district.  A 17-year-old suspect was detained.

March 23, 2014:  Unidentified, ~25, São Paulo, Brazil, dismembered.  Human body parts of one or more people were found in two garbage bags in a cemetery and a trunk at a shopping fair.  Since the part in the trunk was wrapped in a red dress, the victim was thought to be trans.  Fingertips were removed and the trunk was partially skinned, as if to remove a tattoo…probably to hinder identification.  Head and genitals had also been removed.

 photo Marciana_zps98298133.jpgMarch 24, 2014:  Marciana da Silva, 22, Iguatu, Ceará, Brazil, shot once in the neck in her room.

March 25, 2014:  Jade Esmerelda, 21, Venezuela, shot to death.  Suspect was an undercover police agent.  They reportedly argued over payment.

March 26, 2014:  Unidentified, Medellin Antioquia Colombia, stabbed to death.  Body was found in a river.

March 28, 2014:  Nicole Machado, 20, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil, stabbed in neck and abdomen.  The body was discovered buried a block from her home, with hands and feet bound.  She had been missing for ten days.  Two suspects were arrested, but it is thought there were more involved.  The victim made and sold pipes.

 photo Giovana_zps0a14ea7f.jpgMarch 29, 2014:  Giovana Souza Silva, 33,  São Paulo, Brazil, gunshots.  Victim was gunned down in the street.

March 29, 2014:  Unidentified, ~30, João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil, pistol-whipped and beaten by several people before being dragged through the streets.  Police were called that a woman was being beaten and dragged through the streets.  A cellphone was found near the site.  Residents of the neighborhood could not identify the victim.

April 1, 2014:  Curina “Laila” Barbosa, 18, São Paulo Brazil, no details.

April 2, 2014:  Unidentified, Sobral, Ceará, Brazil, blow to the head by iron bar.  Victim was left by the side of the road.

April 2, 2014:  Unidentified, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, beaten and strangled and shot.  Body was found on a beach.  Victim is thought to have been homeless.  An iron bar used in the assault was found next to the body.

April 4, 2014:  Candy Madeline, 18, Peru, no details

April 7, 2014:  Mileide, Santo Antônio, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, shot four times.  Victim was identified by police informants as a known drug user.

April 7, 2014:  Poly Moreira, Brazil,  mutilated.  Victim was “shredded” and found near train tracks.

April 20, 2014:  Valquíria Brito, 42, Praça dos Carreiros, Rondonópolis, Mato Grosso, Brazil, shot in the back.  Victim was wanted by police in relation to a theft.

 photo Ccedila11F0la_zps363638a2.jpgApril 21, 2014:  Çağla Joker, Tarlabaşı, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey, shot in the chest.  Drive-by shooting.  Two transwomen were attacked in a hate crime.  One survived.  The local LGBTQ association said that when police and medics arrived, they did not want to touch the victims.  protesters marched with signs saying,  

Trans killings are political

April 21, 2014:  Unidentified, Brazil, no details.

April 24, 2014:  Bhrenda Scarpelin, Itatiba São Paulo Brazil, found dead in the road.

April 27, 2014:  Catherine Pereira Rock, Ceará Brazil, public stoning.

Catherine was brutally stoned at dawn last Sunday 27 / 04 in the Plaza Dr. Aramis in Canindé.

April 30, 2014:  Unidentified, Distrito Federal Brazil, shot in the head.  Crime occurred less than 200 meters from a police station.

May 29, 2014:  Marcia Moraes, 34, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, shot four times.

June 3, 2014:  Kandy Hall, 40, Montebello, Maryland, massive trauma.  The body was dumped in a field three blocks from where she lived.

She was a very fun-loving, caring person.  She just enjoyed life.  She lived life to the fullest because I guess her mindset was tomorrow’s not promised to anybody so I’m not going to wait until tomorrow to do this if I can do it today.

–Derrick Smith, a friend

 photo Paola_zpsc631e273.jpgJune 8, 2014:  Paola Camote, 29, Arandu, São Paulo, Brazil, knife wounds to neck.  Victim’s hands and feet were bound in her own clothing.

June 16, 2014:  Mia Henderson, 26, Baltimore, Maryland, massive trauma.  The victim was found in an alley.   She was the sibling of NBA player Reggie Bullock.

June 12, 2014:  Zoriada, “Ale” Reyes, 28, Anaheim, California, choked to death.  Body was dumped behind a Dairy Queen.  Randy Lee Parkerson has been charged with the murder.

June 19, 2014:  Yaz’min Shancez, 31, Fort Myers, Florida, burned to death behind a dumpster.

You don’t do that to an animal.

–Shannon Adams, Yaz’min’s stepmother

Terry Linn Brady was arrested for shooting Yaz’min, lighting her on fire, and then leaving her to die.

June 23, 2014:  André Luiz Rocha Borges, 23, Tijucal, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil, shot in the face.  The victim ran to a neighbor’s house looking for shelter, but hots were fired and the neighbor was wounded in the leg.  Victim tried to run but was gunned down.

June 26, 2014:  Tiffany Edwards, 28, Cincinnati, Ohio, shot to death.  The victim’s body was found by a sanitation worker.  Quamar Edwards (no relation), was arrested for the murder.  A relative said,

Quamar gets an attitude about gay or trans people “trying to hit on him.”

Genocidal violence against Trans folks of color is spreading like a virus in Ohio and needs to end.

–Cherno Biko

The brutality and violence we see being committed against trans communities of color is real. It’s happening in our own cities, in our own state. This violence needs to end. Trans lives matter.

–Shane Morgan, TransOhio

June 30, 2014:  Wanderley Porfilho Ramos, Coruripe, Alagoas, Brazil, raped before dying of blunt force trauma.  Victim was rendered nearly unrecognizable.

 photo Kellen_zps52a5edd3.jpgJuly 13, 2014:  Kellen Santorine, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil, raped before dying of blunt force trauma.  Killer dumped the body in a motel swimming pool and was apprehended by motel staff when he tried to flee.

 photo MacKelly_zps476498b7.jpgJuly 18, 2014:  Mackelly Castro, 24, Teresina, Piauí, Brazil, hanged.  Body was found in an industrial district.  Police are now searching for serial killer.

July 18, 2014:  Lele Johnson, 24, Roatán, Honduras, beaten to death.  Victim was deaf and had a history of petty theft according to police.

 photo Denysi_zpsd49f7f78.jpgJuly 24, 2014:  Dennysi Brandão, 24, Contagem, Minas Gerais, Brazil, multiple gunshots.  Victim was assassinated.  Police say there may this murder may be racially motivated.

Rest in peace Dennysi Brandão, know that sorry his unexpected departure the damn dream girlfriend cost him his life.  Unacceptable it, human beings are unreliable, capable of taking the life of his own brother, that justice be done. Will the best peace.

–wrote one of the victim’s friends on Facebook

 photo Piqueno_zps58e750fb.jpgJuly 31, 2014:  Alisson Henrique da Silva (aka Piqueno), 25, Macaíba, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, multiple gunshots, including the last two to the head.  Victim was a college student who was having a drink in a bar when two men on a motorbike drove to the establishment and shot her as she tried to flee.  Police suspect hate crime.

August 9, 2014:  Unidentified, Jardim dos Ipês Itaquaquecetuba, São Paulo, Brazil, dead body found in vacant lot, dressed in women’s underwear with eyes removed.

September 5, 2014:  Alejandra Leos, Memphis, Tennessee, shot in the back.  Family members believe someone was harassing Leos and killed her.

 photo Karen_zps3d7d3da3.jpgSeptember 9, 2014:  Karen Alanis, 23, Caçapava, São Paulo, Brazil, thrown from moving vehicle and then run over.  A suspect was arrested in a chop shop.  The suspect is thought to have assaulted at least five other trans women in São Paulo.

September 9, 2014:  Marcela Duque, 46. Medellín, Colombia, stoned to death.  Victim was walking with a 19-year-old friend when both were attacked without warning.  Marcela fought the attackers while her friend escaped.  Marcela was a leader in the LGBTI community and had received threats.  A hate crime is thought likely.

September 13, 2014:  Cris, Portal da Foz, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, multiple gunshots.

September 25, 2014:  Mahadevi, 22, Malleshwara, Karnataka, India, thrown off a moving train.  The victim was speech-impaired.  Two youths shoved her off the train unto parallel tracks, where she died immediately.  The youths escaped.  Mahadevi’s community arrived on the scene before railway police did.

September 30, 2014:  Bruna Lakiss, 26, Várzea Grande, Mato Grosso, Brazil, shot to death.  Victim was talking with two men on a motorcycle, who assassinated her.  Revenge was given as a possible motive.

October 1, 2014:  Gull dos Santos, 35, Rio Largo, Alagoas, Brazil, three shots to the face.  As the victim walked along walked a busy thoroughfare, two men approached the victim on a motorcycle  before assassinating her.

October 3, 2014:  Aniya Parker, 47, East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

I can’t even come home late from work or something without the risk of being shot in my head, brutally, for my purse or whatever the case may be. It terrifies me.

–Kerri Secil, vigil organizer

This was not a robbery, in fact, they left the purse behind.  This is a cold-blooded hate crime and this type of violence needs to end.

–Mary Zeiser, Hollywood

 photo Geacuteia_zpsa03d7106.jpgOctober 9, 2014:  Géia Borghi, Monte Mor, São Paulo, Brazil, shot in chest, bound, gagged, and set on fire.  The victim worked as a nurse technician in Campinas and cared for her blind mother.  The victim also did tarot readings.  According to the mother, two people came to her house and complained about a reading they had received, then ransacked the house, taking all electronics and Géia.  Géia’s boyfriend called her after she had been kidnapped, and Géia said she was  okay at that time in a “trembling voice.”  The boyfriend called police.  An anonymous tip led police to the body lying beside a burning vehicle on a rural road.

October 11. 2014:  Jennifer Laude, Subic Bay, Zambales, Philippines, asphyxiation by drowning.

The victim went with Marine Pfc. Jeffrey Scott Pemberton to a motel in Olongapo City, where they apparently had sex at least two times before Pemberton strangled Laude and drowned her in the toilet.

 photo Sara_zps40c3dd9f.jpgOctober 12, 2014:  Sara dos Prazeres, 27, Camaçari, Bahia, Brazil, shot to death.  Police  concentrated on the fact that Sara had been arrested three times for selling drugs.

 photo Mayang_zpsc7846b1a.jpgOctober 4, 2014:  Mayang Prasetyo, 27, Brisbane, Australia, dismembered and boiled in chemicals by her boyfriend.  The boyfriend then committed suicide, so we shall not know why he did this.

October 16, 2014:  Aguinaldo Cláudio Colombelli, 45, Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, stabbed to death.  The body was discovered in her home with 15 stab wounds and the premises were ransacked.  Neighbors had heard a loud commotion.  Police announced the victim was a drug user.  There were signs of forced entry.

October 16, 2014:  Unidentified, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, beaten to death.  The vicim was known to be a gay man.  He was in drag when he was killed.  It is thought to be a hate crime.

October 20, 2014:  Flávia, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, shot to death, assassination-style.  There is no known suspect or motive.

 photo Mary_Joy_Anonuevo_0_zps83c5edec.jpgOctober 21, 2014:  Mary Joy Añonuevo, 55, Lucena, Quezon, Philippines, stabbed 55 times.  Victim owned a bar, Koozy Resto, in Lucena city.  Police were called by neighbors, who heard screaming.  The bar was found unlocked, with a body in the basement. Cash, jewelry, and an iPad were found to be missing.  Police suspect the motive was robbery.  

People who reported this to me said that she was also strangled to death

–Dindi Tan, Association of Transgenders in the Philippines

Suspicion is cast upon the partner of a recently fired waitress, although the nature of the crime indicates a lot of hate.

November 1, 2014:  Maicon, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, shot to death.  Victim was assassinated from a moving blue Fiat.

Since this diary took several days to create, it was quite possible another name might have to be added.  And indeed…

November 14, 2014:  Gizzy, Fowler, 24, Nashville, Tennessee, shot to death.

 photo Gizzy_zpsc42fde54.jpg

Police provided a photograph of Fowler from before she transitioned, better known by her chosen name, Gizzy, in the Nashville trans community. Nashville’s WKRN-TV, however, chose to report the crime under the headline,  “Man found shot to death wearing women’s clothing in north Nashville.” As of the time this story was filed, that report had not been corrected to reflect that Gizzy is a transwoman.  The focus of this story is, rather, on police spokesman Don Aaron’s aside:  “We’ll be trying to confirm why this person was here and if this person has been known to frequent the area,” adding that Fowler had a history with police.  Likewise, at this time, neither WSMV-TN nor the Tennessean have reported on this case as a crime against a trans person. Only WZTV Nashville has updated their story to reflect that the “Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition announced that victim was a Nashville transgender woman.”

Gizzy’s mother told a news station, “[Gizzy’s manager] just told me, [Gizzy] was such a wonderful person and he said he was getting ready to send [Gizzy] to South Carolina to run the stores (restaurants) out there.”

1 comment

    • Robyn on November 20, 2014 at 18:11
      Author

    …reaction.  I’ll be here to listen and interact.

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