A Black trans woman, Riah Milton, was shot dead after being ‘lured’ into a trap. Even in death she’s being misgendered
Riah Milton was shot dead, then deadnamed by publications reporting on her death. (Twitter)
A Black trans woman was shot dead during a robbery in Cincinnati, and almost every news outlet reporting on her death has misgendered her.
Riah Milton’s body was discovered on Tuesday morning (June 9) in Liberty Township, Cincinnati.
Investigators found that the 25-year-old trans woman had died of multiple gunshot wounds after Kaleb Marshall Tooson, 18, Tyree Jeffery Cross, 25, and a 14-year-old girl “lured” her to Liberty Township to rob her of her vehicle.
Tooson has been arrested and charged with murder and aggravated robbery, while the 14-year-old, whose name has been withheld, is in custody and has been charged with with complicity to aggravated robbery, complicity to murder and tampering with evidence.
A warrant is out for Cross’s arrest, and he is wanted for complicity to murder, complicity to aggravated robbery and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Riah Milton’s sister ‘angry and upset’ at deadnaming.
Butler County sheriff Richard Jones said in a press release, which also misgendered Milton: “Our detectives worked tirelessly to solve this case.
“Let this be known, if you think you can come to Butler County and commit these heinous crimes and get away with it, you obviously are not familiar on how we do things here. You may want to educate yourself.”
Milton’s sister, Ariel, posted about her death on Twitter. On top of her grief, she has also had to deal with authorities and the media misgendering and deadnaming her late sister.
Seeing the news completely deadname and misgender my sister was like seeing someone just wipe her existence clean away.
She wrote: “Currently the only words I can use to describe the past three to four days since finding out about the murder of my sister, Riah, has been just completely heartbreaking and has left me emotionally and mentally tired.
“When I initially made the tweet about my sister, my one and only concern was to just make sure that my sister was celebrated and remembered in death like she was in life.
“When I first read the FOX 19 news story on Riah’s death, I was angry and upset in a way that I couldn’t explain.
“Seeing the news completely deadname and misgender my sister was like seeing someone just wipe her existence clean away.”
So my birth sister, Riah, was tragically murdered yesterday. Like me, she’s also trans. The news has been misgendering her as well as other people and I want to make sure that she’s remembered in death like she was in life.#SayHerName #BlackTransLivesMatter#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/CW3erSSTYb
— weird ass nigga (read – Black theater kid) (@dance10bussy3) June 10, 2020
Milton’s sister said that she had even contacted Butler County sheriff Jones, and that he “refused to correct himself after being called out multiple times”.
“Like Riah, I am a Black trans woman as well and to be deadnamed by people who know that you go by a different name and pronouns is… a slap in the face,” she wrote.
“It says you don’t care about the humanity and respect that transgender people deserve.”
