The mother of Dejanay Stanton joined Chicago LGBTQ+ advocates Oct. 30 to demand answers and accountability after a jury acquitted the man charged with killing her daughter eight years ago.
Stanton, a 24-year-old transgender woman, was killed in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood in August 2018. Tremon Hill, 25, was acquitted Oct. 23 following a three-day trial. The verdict renewed calls by advocates for both accountability and greater protections for Chicago’s Black transgender community.
At a press conference, Stanton’s mother, Valerie Griffin, described the emotional toll of waiting eight years for a trial that ended without a conviction.
“We waited eight years for three days,” Griffin said, questioning why the trial was so brief.
Griffin remembered her daughter as a joyful, compassionate young woman who loved her family and wanted to help others, particularly other transgender people. Stanton had been preparing to attend school to become a paralegal, Griffin said, with hopes of helping transgender people and others facing legal challenges.
Griffin also recalled how her daughter would repeatedly tell her she loved her throughout the day.
“Every day, my baby would get up, walk past me and say, ‘Ma, I love you,’” Griffin said. “That never ended.”
Griffin said the acquittal has left her family struggling to understand what happened after years of waiting for answers.
Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison, who helped organize the press conference alongside Equality Illinois, called for an examination of how the criminal case was handled.
Morrison questioned whether shortcomings occurred during the felony review process, prosecution, jury selection or other stages of the proceedings.
“We cannot change the jury’s verdict, but we can demand transparency,” Morrison said. “We can examine where our institutions failed and fallen short, and work to ensure future investigations deliver answers for grieving families.”
Asked whether the county was considering legislative action, Morrison said conversations were ongoing and officials were examining what authority they have.
“At the very minimum, I do think that there should be an investigation, particularly in this case,” Morrison said. “Was the ball dropped? Was there an issue when it came to how the jury pool was chosen? Was there an issue with the prosecution? With the judge? … Once we get those answers, that will better inform us on how we proceed.”
Channyn Lynne Parker, president and CEO of Equality Illinois, emphasized that the community’s demands extend beyond the outcome of any individual criminal case.
“Our demand for justice is not simply a demand for punishment,” Parker said. “It is a demand that our lives be worthy of protection, that our deaths are worthy of investigation, and our families are worthy of answers.”
The calls for systemic change come as Chicago officials consider recommendations released in June by the city’s Transfemicide Working Group, which was established to address violence against transgender women.
Antonio King, director of LGBTQ+ affairs for Mayor Brandon Johnson, told Windy City Times after the press conference that the administration intends to coordinate the recommendations with its forthcoming five-year LGBTQ+ policy plan.
King said the city’s Commission on Human Relations would be involved in the effort to put the recommendations into practice.
King also said city departments have until Nov. 9 to provide feedback on the broader LGBTQ+ policy plan, which he hopes to deliver to the mayor before Thanksgiving.
For Griffin and the advocates gathered Friday, the calls for change were also about preserving Stanton’s memory.
Nikki Patin, CEO of Brave Space Alliance, recalled videos in which Stanton celebrated her life and encouraged others to embrace themselves.
“I am so pretty. My life is so pretty, and I love my life,” Patin recalled Stanton saying. “What an incredible, joyful spirit of a human being.”