This July Fourth weekend, three Black Trans women were murdered and one went missing.
Draya McCarty and Shaki Peters, two Black trans women, were found dead near Baton Rouge in what appeared to be two separate incidents. A third woman, Bree Black, was found shot to death on Pompano Beach in Florida. Meanwhile, Dawn Manson went missing in West Mifflin, Florida and her family and friends are actively searching for evidence in connection to her disappearance.
Louisiana Trans Advocates, a nonprofit organization, released the following statement:
“The family of Draya McCarty has not received adequate information from law enforcement officials, and St. Helena Parish Sheriff’s Department has only publicly released information about the murder of Shaki Peters, while dead-naming and misgendering her. Amite City Police Department has released no information to the public or the media about either of these two murders.”
Draya and Shaki were the 20th and 21st trans people to violently lose their lives in 2020.
earlier this morning, @LouisianaTrans (the first statewide trans advocacy & social support organization in the state) broke news of two more trans women found murdered, near amite, la: #DrayaMcCarty of hammond and #ShakiPeters of denham springs. pic.twitter.com/rBuNg8TceP
— Kelley Rand (@kelley_rand) July 4, 2020
News of the women’s deaths surfaced this weekend alongside the tragic reports of Bree Black being shot to death around 10 p.m. in Pompano Beach on Friday.
On Sunday afternoon, protestors gathered at Pompano Beach to mourn Bree’s death.
A video by Carl Juste featured Tiffany Burks, community organizer for Black Lives Matter in Miami giving a statement on the importance of defending Black trans lives.
“We’re here today because we know we have to stand in solidarity for all Black lives, so that means Black trans lives, Black queer lives. Because we know that this justice to end police violence is the same fight to end intercommunity violence and all state violence, so we know all this violence is connected and we want it to all end. “
A fourth trans woman, 21-year-old Dawn Mason, went missing on Friday. She was last seen in San Francisco, but is believed to be in Pittsburgh. Dawn’s mother, Lateea Neely, said she last heard from her daughter Thursday night and that she was “suffering from some depression.”
As of today, the search is ongoing. The family has traveled from Florida to West Mifflin searching for information to explain her disappearance.
This isn’t getting any coverage!
3 more #BlackTrans women have been murdered this past week. Local media & police are deadnaming & misgendering them.#DrayaMcCarty & #ShakiPeters both near Amite, LA.#BreeBlack in Pompano Beach, FL.
[thread]#LGBTQ #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/rLHamSnPNV
— Black Lives Matter (@thxitsthetrauma) July 5, 2020
6 black trans woman dead in 7 days. I can’t even find the words anymore, it’s heart breaking. Am I just shouting into the void
They’re lives mattered and no one seems to care.#BraylaStone #MerciMack#TatianaHall #ShakiPeters#DrayaMcCarty#BreeBlack #BlackTransLivesMatter
— Zoey ️ // BLM // ️⚧️ (@SparkleEmotions) July 5, 2020