This article contains descriptions of fatal violence against a Black trans woman.
Starr Brown, a Black transgender woman, was killed in Memphis, Tennessee on April 19. She was 28 years old.
Police found Brown’s body at approximately 9:30 a.m. inside a crashed car on Rolling Woods Drive, according to reports from local news station WHBQ, which misgendered Brown and used her legal name in its initial coverage. Brown had been fatally shot in the side.
On April 28, Alexavier Williamson, 20, reportedly confessed to the killing in a statement to Memphis police, telling homicide investigators he had shot Brown in a wooded area near the roadway. Williamson worked with Brown at a local restaurant, where surveillance footage allegedly showed the two entering Brown’s car together at around 2:30 a.m. on the morning of her death. Williamson has been charged with second-degree homicide.
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Jasmine Tasaki, founder of trans-led nonprofit WeCareTennessee, said she was saddened to live “in a time where Black transwomen are murdered with no outrage,” in a statement to the Human Rights Campaign this week.
“Our community continues to suffer, yet we find ways to go on,” Tasaki said. “It is with deep hurt that I say Starr Brown’s name. She is now with the ancestors and can rest. It’s our duty to push harder for liberation for our people; we can only save ourselves.”
As HRC’s report noted, news of Brown’s death prompted an outpouring of grief among friends and family, who remembered her as a “beautiful soul” and someone who uplifted those around her. In addition to her restaurant work, Brown’s social media profiles indicate that she was an adult content creator as well, and had garnered a large following on X, formerly Twitter. Local news reports (which also used Brown’s legal name) also indicate that Brown had previously been shot as recently as October, when she was the target of an attempted armed robbery.
Brown is among the latest victims in a rising tide of violence targeting trans communities, particularly Black trans people. Her death came barely two weeks prior to the hit-and-run killing of local icon Kita Bee in Kansas City, MO.
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