The life of Black transgender girl Ariyanna Mitchell, 17, ended violently at a party in Hampton, Virginia, on April 2—and the accused killer asked her if she was a boy or a girl before shooting her, The Advocate reported.
Mitchell was fatally shot while intervening in a fight, according to local TV station WAVY, which misgendered and deadnamed her. The suspect, Jimmy Leshawn Williams, had been asked by his girlfriend to shoot a friend of Mitchell and others at the party, the friend told the television outlet.
Mitchell was in her junior year at the East End Academy and was a dancer at the Triple E (Electra Eagles Elite) Dance Academy, an online obituary noted. “She was truly unique, funny, and loved by everyone,” the obit says. “There was never a dull moment when Ariyanna was around.” The obit (http://www.mefisherfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Kamari-Mitchell/#!/Obituary; put the deceased’s name as Kamari (Ariyanna) Julius Mitchell.
Mitchell is at least the 12th trans, non-binary or gender-nonconforming U.S. resident to die by violence this year.
In a press release, HRC ACTIVATE alumnus Allyn Cropper said on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC’s) website, “There are no transgender people who deserve to be your martyrs. It crushes my heart to see this beautiful young woman brutally slain for no apparent reason. … It’s time for Black trans women’s rights to finally be safeguarded. What price will they have to pay for their humanity?”