On the morning of April 8, a 31-year-old trans woman, Davonta F. Curtis, was found dead inside her East Garfield Park apartment on the 3100 block of West Madison Street.
A Chicago Police Department (CPD) report sent to Windy City Times via email said that the “victim was discovered unresponsive with trauma to the head … and was pronounced dead on the scene.”
A Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office media representative said in an email statement to this publication that Curtis died due to “multiple blunt force injuries due to assault.”
Curtis’s boyfriend, 24-year-old Deandre Bell of the 1900 block of West Maypole Avenue, was arrested later that day.
At Bell’s pre-trial hearing on April 11, Cook County prosecutors said he allegedly searched on Google on his cellphone “how to kill someone with a hammer” and “if a person gets hit in the head with a hammer while sleeping what happens” before he allegedly struck Curtis’ head with a hammer in her apartment.
Prosecutors also allege that Bell stole Curtis’ car and sped away from the crime scene in the early morning hours of April 6. During the court hearing, Bell was charged by prosecutors with one count of first-degree murder and possession of a stolen vehicle.
According to prosecutors, Curtis’ sister found her dead in her apartment on April 8 with her naked body partially covered by a sheet near a large pool of blood. Curtis’s blue 2009 Hyundai and car keys were also missing.
Prosecutors said surveillance video showed that Bell left Curtis’ apartment alone at about 1 a.m. on April 6.
CPD found Bell driving Curtis’ car on April 6. After Bell he was taken into custody, prosecutors allege, he admitted to striking Curtis with a hammer until she showed no signs of movement. Court documents also show that Bell allegedly admitted to the theft of Curtis’ car keys, phone and money and identified himself in a video as the man who left Curtis’ apartment just after the murder took place.
Bell also allegedly “admitted to leaving Curtis’ phone behind a dumpster and POs recovered the cellphone from that area,” according to prosecutors.
A motive was not declared by prosecutors. Bell was ordered held in custody pending trial; his next court date is Wednesday, April 29.
In their original case incident report of this crime, CPD misgendered Curtis.
National Black Justice Collective Director of Public Policy and Programs said in an April 17 press release statement, “My heart is heavy with grief at the news of the truly horrific murder of Davonta Curtis. It is unfortunately too common for trans people to be targeted by the people they loved and trusted, with HRC reporting 26% of trans homicide victims were killed by an intimate partner. Also, unfortunately, misgendering of the victim by law enforcement and the media is common, as we once again saw with Davonta. Misgendering delays wider reporting on her death and, in other cases, can delay justice for the victim. When the dead are misgendered in reports from the media, law enforcement, and emergency medical services, their names are lost to us twice, once in life, and once in the count of those we mourn.
“The epidemic of violence continues to ravage our community. Transphobic rhetoric and hostile legislation continue to poison the climate, stoking the very hatred that erupts into physical harm. Our trans siblings deserve more than survival; they deserve to thrive. We must fight at every level of government, not just against anti-trans legislation, but for pro-trans society and legislation that affirms and protects trans people’s safety, access to care and resources and the right to exist as their authentic selves.”