Black transgender woman shot and killed in Alabama hotel room
A transgender woman was found shot to death in her hotel room in Alabama last month and is now being counted among the transgender women killed in 2016.
AL.com reported that early reports of the incident, which occurred on September 23rd, wrongly misgendered 30 year old Jazz Alford as a male.
Alford, from North Carolina, was pronounced dead at the scene after housekeeping staff discovered her body on the floor of the hotel room she was staying in. She was shot to death at the Kings Inn in Birmingham, Alabama.
The murder is the 22nd transgender homicide this year, making 2016 the deadliest year for transgender people on record.
Alford’s sister Toya Milan, who is also transgender, described her sibling as a “loving person”. The family said they “didn’t know anybody that would want to hurt her.”
“Her death was a huge hit for the LGBT community. There was another transgender person shot multiple times somewhere else recently. People think transgender people are monsters, when really we just want to be accepted,” said Milan.
The homicide division at Birmingham Police Department reportedly were aware of Alford’s trans identity, but didn’t reveal it because of “case security.” This led to media outlets wrongly misgendering her.
23 year old Denzell Thomas is being treated as a suspect in the case after he was arrested for shooting a different rans woman in a home invasion and robbery. The victim in that attack survived and is recovering in hospital.
The anti-violence project advocacy organisation said: “We must remember that these are actual lives of friends and family and loved ones who are lost.”
“Reach out to loved ones and people in your community impacted by this violence and offer your support and care. It’s on all of us to end this violence and take care of transgender and gender nonconforming people in our lives and our communities,” they added.
