Trans woman murdered on eve of Transgender Day of Visibility
Ashanti Carmon was reportedly shot dead on Saturday March 30. (ABC7)
A trans woman of colour was reportedly shot dead in the US on the eve of International Day of Transgender Visibility (TDOV).
Ashanti Carmon was fatally shot in the early hours of Saturday (March 30) morning in Fairmount Heights, Prince George’s County, Maryland, reports ABC7.
Her death marks the second reported murder of a transgender person in the US in 2019.
Fairmount Heights police were called to Aspen and Jost streets just after six in the morning after receiving multiple reports of a shooting.
Carmon was pronounced dead at the scene. She had numerous gunshot wounds.
Trans woman pronounced dead at scene
Earline Budd, a local transgender campaigner, told ABC7: “She wasn’t someone that frequented the streets a lot, so that’s why it’s so shocking and the community is stunned.
“I’ve been getting calls all day about this murder.”
TDOV is marked across the world annually on March 31, which celebrates trans people and raises awareness of the discrimination faced by these individuals.
“She wasn’t someone that frequented the streets a lot, so that’s why it’s so shocking and the community is stunned.”
—Earline Budd, trans campaigner
Budd said that there have been a number of trans people have been assaulted in that part of town, which is a known spot for sex workers.
“We’ve had quite a few transgender folks who have been assaulted, have been shot, who have been stabbed in that area,” Budd told ABC7.
The corner of Aspen and Jost streets. (Google Maps)
Carmon’s murder comes after Alabama trans woman Dana Martin was shot dead on January 6 near the 3900 block of Brewer Road, Montgomery, as reported by local paper the Montgomery Advertiser.
Police were called to a shooting at 11pm on January 6, where they found Martin with a fatal gunshot wound in a car in a ditch.
At least 26 trans people were murdered in the US in 2018, with the majority being trans women of colour
Most trans murder victims in 2018 were trans women of colour
The actual number, however, could be higher as there is no official data collection on crimes against trans people, and trans murder victims have been known to be misgendered by local press.
In November, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released a report looking at the high levels of violence against America’s transgender community.
It found that 74 percent of identified transgender murder victims were misgendered (referred to using their birth gender) or deadnamed (referred to using their birth name) in initial police or media reports surrounding their deaths.
