Austin, Texas, resident Monica Loera, 43, has become the first transgender murder victim in the United States in 2016.
Loera—who was misidentified as male in some media reports—was shot Jan. 22, according to BuzzFeed. Police said they arrested JonCasey William Rowell, 29, over Loera’s death. He was charged with first-degree murder and is being held in the Travis County jail on $250,000 bond.
Loera’s death—which was Austin’s first homicide this year—comes after 22 trans homicides took place in 2015. Nineteen of the victims were individuals of color, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs.
The article is at www.buzzfeed.com/davidmack/trans-woman-killed-in-texas-shooting#.bgGMJKn4zy.