12 trans women of colour have now been murdered in the US this year
A 26-year-old transgender woman has been reported as murdered two months after she was found by the police.
Kenne McFadden was the twelfth transgender woman of colour to be killed in the US this year.
Because she was originally misgendered by authorities, it wasn’t revealed until now that McFadden was a trans woman.
Her corpse was found floating in Texas’s San Antonio River on April 9.
The medical examiner has ruled her death was a homicide by drowning.
Of the 11 other trans women of colour who have been killed this year in the US, three have been murdered in Louisiana: Jaquarrius Holland, 18, Chyna Dupree, 31, and Ciara McElveen, 21.
Tiara Richmond, 24, was murdered in Illinois, Mesha Caldwell, 41, died in Mississippi, Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow, 28, was killed in South Dakota, and Jojo Striker, 23, was shot dead in Ohio.
On March 22, Alphonza Watson, 38, was killed in Baltimore, Maryland.
Chay Reed, 28, was shot dead on April 21 in Miami, and Kenneth Bostick, 59, was found with severe injuries in Manhattan and later died from the injuries.
Sherrell Faulkner, 46, died on May 16 in North Carolina after she was attacked on November 30 last year.
A former high school classmate who had recently re-connected with McFadden told local news outlet KENS 5 that McFadden was “that shoulder you needed to cry on.
“Everything you would expect in a friend, it was Kenne,” they continued.
The classmate repeatedly misgendered McFadden, but said she was “super outgoing, super charismatic, (and the) friendliest person ever”.
They added that “when [she] needed to, [she] could be assertive when the time came.”
Another friend, who also remained anonymous, said McFadden “would be that shoulder you needed to cry on.
“Everything you would expect in a friend, it was Kenne.”
They added: “If you’d give Kenne a chance, [she’s] one of those people you would be so fortunate enough in your entire lifetime to meet.
“That is a friendship you would want to invest in and you’d hang on to dear life for.
“As lovable as Kenne was, I can’t think of any reason somebody would want to harm someone so good,” they added.
Friends said Kenne worked at a local restaurant and was known for her big personality and love of singing.
This is clear from the multiple videos of her singing pop songs by artists like Kelly Clarkson and Christina Aguilera which she had posted online.
Here’s a video McFadden uploaded to Facebook of herself singing Hurt, by Christina Aguilera:
