Still No Arrests in Murder of D.C. Trans Woman Nana Boo Mack

Three weeks after the vicious daylight stabbing of a young black transgender woman on a Washington D.C. street, there are no suspects, no arrests and few leads.

Metropolitan Washington D.C. police are offering a $25,000 reward to find the person who fatally stabbed  Tyli’a "Na Na Boo" Mack on August 26.  Mack and another young trans woman were attacked as they were walking to a drop-in center for transgender youth. Detectives are investigating this as a possible hate crime. The brazen daylight attack underscores the extent of anti-trans violence in out nation's capitol, reports Michael Lavers in EDGE Washington.

The Web site Remembering Our Dead indicates at least half a dozen trans Washingtonians have been murdered over the last decade. These include Stephanie Thomas and Ukea Davis, who were shot to death on Aug. 12, 2002, while they sat in their car in a Southeast intersection. Antoine Jacobs shot and killed popular entertainer Bella Evangelista on Aug. 16, 2003. And an unknown assailant bludgeoned Tyra Henderson to death in Northwest in April, 2000.

Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, maintains race and class remain a motivating factor behind the majority of anti-trans murders in Washington and elsewhere. "The kind of trans people getting murdered are not white, middle-aged transsexual women like me," she said. "It’s almost always lower income, trans-women of color. If you’re any of those things in the United States, you’re at the greatest risk of violence. It’s horrible."

In addition to being at the greatest risk of violence, the murders of black and Latina trans women are often unsolved, One notable exception: The hate crime killing of Lateisha Green, a young black transgender woman in Syracuse, NY. The attacker, Dwight DeLee, became only the second person in the United States convicted of a hate crime that involved the death of a transgender victim. The first conviction was the recent Angie Zapata case in Colorado.

Murder Underscores Anti-Trans Violence [EDGE]

You May Have Missed ...
DC Police Offer $25K Reward for Killer of Trans [R20]
DC: Police Hunt for Suspects in Fatal Trans Stabbing [R20]
Fatal Stabbing "A Possible Hate Crime" [R20]
Vigil for NaNa Boo Mack [R20]

 

Comments

[Ravenback]

This is the type of crap that pisses me off. Someone has to know who committed the murder of Nana Mack. They need to turn that SOB in. But they might me suffering from the sickness called snitch-itis. Snitch-itis has become too prevalent among many in the black community. I know I probably made some people mad, but I don't care. Wrong is wrong. People know what's going on but they refuse to get involved. You are an enemy of the community if you don't turn evil people in. As I have always believed, a brother who kills a brother is no brother of mine. I just don't understand why this murderer is allowed to roam free. I guess an LGBT life isn't worth much these days. I beg to differ.

[Kevin Perez]

The lives of trans people, in general, aren't worth much. Especially within in Black/Latino communities. As said before, they truly get the short end of the stick. And sadly, no one cares.

[Ravenback]

@ Kevin Perez

It's sad that we are the only two commenting on this story.

[Baltimore Femme]

ravenback, kevin and of course rod...thank you so much!

i wrote a few weeks ago that i had met nana boo twice about a year ago. but i knew a friend of hers and reconnected with her at the vigil. i also reconnected with the T sistah who was interviewed on the news.

i can't even express my anger, sadness and hurt after hearing about this crime. not that i felt devastated by nana boo's lost, just numbed by the cycle of violence. when will it end? ever? i have lost so many T sistahs to violence, who been killed. or just attacked, like a T girl last week in Suitland. black trans sistahs and effemeninante men are treated like the lowest of the low. in the black community and in the LGBT community! someone felt perfectly righteous to stab these girls in BROAD DAYLIGHT. and silence??

unfortunately there is so little activism in our black LGBT community that trans issues are relegated to the back burner. there is very little support but there are some voices online.

i feel we have a very long way to go, our black community and our black LGBT community. peace and blessings that some of you "get" it.

[Ravenback]

@ Baltimore Femme

I recall reading your testimony about you meeting Nana Boo Mack and knowing a friend of hers. You provided an insight that was sorely lacking in the news stories about her murder. I greatly appreciated what you had said.

I remember befriending a young man almost 20 years ago. He was a very effeminate man who often dressed in drag. He was absolutely beautiful as a man and woman. He often told me how poorly he was treated by other gay men. If you could see the look on his face when describing such treatment, it would break your heart. I would often suggest that he should seek counseling because I was worried that he might one day hurt himself due to his depressive state. Sadly, he committed suicide as a result of his treatment. He was the first person I had known that committed suicide.

People don't realize how they treat someone can beat down that person's view of themselves. So your comment about how trans sisters and effeminate men are treated in the black and LGBT communities is so true. Thank you for your words and I share your anger, sadness, and hurt. Nana Boo Mack seeks justice. I don't believe her soul will rest until justice is served.