Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Itali Marlowe was just 29 years old when she was shot to death by Raymond D. Williams on September 20, 2019. It was a little past 2 PM in the afternoon when the Houston woman was found dying in her driveway near the home she shared with Williams. Itali was a Black trans woman. Williams remain at large.

HPD patrol officers responded to a shooting call at a residence at the above address and found the victim on the driveway of the residence. She had been shot multiple times. Paramedics transported her to an area hospital where she was pronounced deceased. Witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots from where the victim was discovered.

The suspect was later identified as Williams, who was living with the victim, and was seen fleeing the scene on foot prior to officers’ arrival.

Itali’s death was first reported by Monica Robert at TransGriot and confirmed in other media outlets. She is the 20th known transgender person killed this year, the majority of whom were Black transgender women. She is the 4th known transgender person to be killed in Texas this year.  Please read the information below for the complete list of names and other important details.

20 transgender neighbors known to be killed this year (other fates still to be determined) and 19 of them were Black trans women. How do we remain so calm in the face of this overwhelming information? Complacency? Unwillingness to examine our misogynoir and transphobia?

Of the known transgender people killed this year, 14 have died from gun violence. Of the more than 150 known victims of anti-transgender violence from 2013 to present, approximately two-thirds of those killed were victims of gun violence.

Just last month, the City of Pittsburgh released a report on inequality across gender and race, documenting how Pittsburgh is one of the absolute worst places for Black residents to live. Factor in race, gender AND gender identity and the outcomes are more harrowing to me.

[T]he report notes that Black women have poor outcomes because “of the individual and structural racism and sexism they face.” Regarding maternal mortality, the report says the high rate for Black women is caused by “health care providers’ stereotypes of Black women that influence diagnoses and care” and stress related to racism.

“Pittsburgh should consider targeted interventions that address the racially discriminatory biases in the health care system, increase the number of Black health care providers, and reduce broader socioeconomic inequities faced by Pittsburgh’s Black women,” according to the report.

As our City waits for toxicology and autopsy report outcomes regarding the recent death of a Black trans woman here in Pittsburgh (see below), it is important to focus simultaneously on the unique stories of each trans neighbor and zoom out to look at the big picture of the transgender experience in the United States (and beyond.) It is both about each life mattering and about the systemic inequity that generate today’s reality – Itali was killed 19 days ago, but we only learn about her death today?

Rest in power, Itali. You deserved to live a full and robust life surrounded by people who embraced and celebrated your real self. Dying at the hands of someone you knew compounds the tragedy of your death, but reminds us to also lift up and celebrate your life as well – you deserve respect and justice on both accounts.

My list of transgender neighbors lost during the calendar year 2019. It is with horror that I acknowledge that each year in this process of documenting the lives and deaths of our trans neighbors, the numbers start to differ – folks are using different criteria. Details about too many deaths are obscured or never come to light making it hard to pin down just how many transgender neighbors are caught up in this epidemic each year. I try to be as accurate as possible with details for the discrepancies listed below. I know that no list like this one could ever be comprehensive or thorough.

1. Dana Martin – Montgomery, Alabama. January 6, 2019. Age: 31.
2. Ashanti Carmon – Fairmount Heights, Maryland. March 30, 2019. Age: 27
3. Claire Legato – Cleveland. May 14, 2019. Age: 21
4. Muhlaysia Booker – Dallas. May 18, 2019. Age 23.
5. Michelle Simone Tameka Washington – Philadelphia, May 19, 2019. Age 40.
6. Paris Cameron – Detroit, May 25, 2019. Age 20.
7. Chynal Lindsey – Dallas, June 1, 2019. Age 26.
8. Chanel Scurlock – Lumberton, North Carolina, June 5, 2029. Age 23.
9. Jazzaline Ware – Memphis, Tennessee, March 2019. Age 34. **
10. Zoe Spears – Fairmount Heights, Maryland. June 14, 2019. Age 23
11. Brooklyn Lindsey – Kansas City, June 25, 2019. Age 32
12. Denali Berries Stuckey – Charleston, July 20, 2019. Age 29
13. Kiki Fantroy – Miami, July 31, 2019. Age 21
14. Pebbles LaDime ‘Dime’ Doe – Allendale, South Carolina, August 4, 2019. Age 24
15. Jordan Cofer – Dayton, Ohio, August 4, 2019. Age 22.
16. Tracy Single – Houston, Texas, July 30, 2019. Age 22.
17. Bailey Reeves – Baltiore, Maryland, September 2, 2019. Age 17.
18. Bee Love – Clewiston, Florida, September 6, 2019. Age 21.
19. Ja’leyah-Jamar, Kansas City, September 13, 2019. Age 28.
20. Itali Marlowe, Houston, September 20, 2019. Age 29.

** Jazzaline Ware’s body was discovered in her apartment in Memphis, Tennessee in March. Cause of death was originally death by suicide, but according to The Advocate, authorities are now investigating her death as a homicide.

*** The death of Keyiariah Quick on August 10, 2019 in Carthage, North Carolina has been called into question. We will continue to monitor those details. Keyiariah was 25.

*** The death of Elisha Chanel “Diamond” Stanley on September 16, 2019 in Pittsburgh is under investigation. We are monitoring pending reports and trying to get more details to determine the circumstances of her death.