Transgender woman choked to death becomes ninth trans homicide in US this year
(Carla Patricia Flores-Pavon/Facebook)
A transgender woman of colour has been found dead in her apartment in Dallas, Texas.
Police confirmed Carla Patricia Flores-Pavon, 18, had been choked to death but few details have been released.
Officers responded to a call around 4pm local time from the Dallas Fire Rescue, who arrived on the scene first, the Dallas Voice reported.
Friends and family of the victim posted their condolences on social media.
“It hurts a lot, you were a good-hearted person,” one post read in Spanish.
“Sister, fly high. We will remember you with love. Your beautiful smile will stay with us.”
Police confirmed Flores-Pavon was transgender but said there was “no evidence at this time to suggest this homicide was the result of a hate crime.”
Flores-Pavon’s death is the ninth known homicide of a transgender person in the US this year.
Demonstrators protest for transgender rights in Chicago (Scott Olson/Getty)
According to Human Rights Watch, there have been 113 incidents of fatal violence against transgender and non-binary people since 2013. Of those killed, 64 were victims of gun violence.
In 2017, at least 28 deaths of transgender people in the US were killed as a result of fatal violence, the most ever recorded.
The number of deaths is believed to be higher, as some trans people are misgendered in death or their deaths are not reported at all.
Transgender women of colour are disproportionately affected by violence, as result of an intersection of racism, transphobia, sexism and other forms of discrimination.
Sasha Wall, a 29-year-old, was the eighth trans person to be killed this year after she was shot in her car in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.
Sasha Wall was killed earlier this year (Facebook)
Amia Tyrae Berryman, a 28-year-old from Los Angeles, was the seventh trans person to be killed this year after she was fatally shot in a motel room in March.
In February, the body of Zakaria Fry, 28, was found on a road just outside of Santa Fe, Albuquerque.
Phylicia Mitchell was shot dead in Cleveland, Ohio. The 45-year-old was found in her living room on February 23 with bullet wounds in her chest
Celine Walker, 36, was found shot to death in a motel room in Jacksonville, Florida in February.
Earlier that month, Tonya Harvey, 35, was shot dead on Shepard Street in Buffalo, New York.
Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslein, the founder of the Miss Trans America pageant, was stabbed to death earlier this year. Her husband Mark Steele-Knudslien confessed to her murder.
In January, Viccky Gutierrez, from Honduras, was burned to death in Los Angeles.
