Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Her name was Kitty Monroe.

On Wednesday, June 29, 2022, she died from multiple gunshot injuries at her home in the 1600 block of Oaken Bucket Drive in the Cordova section of Memphis.

The man who murdered her shot her after a domestic dispute. He has been arrested and charged with voluntary manslaughter. Friends told reporters that Kitty knew this man and had been in a relationship with him at some point.

Kitty’s social media shows that she adored her sweet baby Yorkies, her family, and friends. She’s described by neighbors as having been very nice, friendly, often chatting as she walked her dogs.

As reported by ABC24, the police report said a witness told police they received a text from the victim, saying a man was at her apartment and wouldn’t leave. 

The affidavit said the suspect told investigators he and the victim had been in a bedroom fighting about him leaving. The report said he said the victim pulled a gun and “ordered him to leave.” 

According to the report, he said he walked to the top of the stairs and then grabbed for the gun and they struggled. He said they both fell down the stairs and when they landed, the suspect told police he pulled out his own gun and shot the victim six to seven times. The affidavit said he left and called police from another location.

He is charged with voluntary manslaughter. Bond was set at $10,000.

Domestic violence, gun violence. These are LGBTQ issues.

Kitty is the 19th transgender person reported as a victim of fatal violence in 2022. She is the twelfth Black trans woman and the fifteenth woman of color from these neighbors. Her death means a trans neighbor has been murdered every 9 and one half days in 2022 in the United States. To date the victims include 12 Black trans women, 3 Latinx trans women, 1 AAIPI trans woman, 1 white trans woman and 2 white trans men. The youngest was 17, the oldest was 50. Ten were 25 or younger. Their deaths come on the heels of 2021, the most violent year in recorded history with the deaths of 57 trans, non-binary, and gender nonconforming people in the United States alone. Note that the tabulation includes a significant number of reports of folx murdered in 2021. This might be confusing. Of course it is confusing. I tried to sort it out below.

She’s the third Black transwoman dead from gun violence in the past two weeks. Pride month. Juneteenth. Stonewall. Roe. It’s all connected.

Rest in power, Kitty. You deserved so many years to flourish and thrive. Your life wS important. Your deaths hurts all of us. I am sorry we did not do a better job creating safety for you. I hope you find peace.

May your memory be a revolution.

This is our list of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming neighbors who have been victims of the campaign of terror in 2022. Please do not copy or share this list without attribution.  

As six additions to our 2021 list have been revealed in 2022, I am adding them in a separate list below to try and make any sense of this increasing horror. These folks deserve their lives and deaths to be honored and remembered. The complexity only underscores their realities.

1. Amäriey Lèį (Myara) – Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. January 1, 2022. Age 20. 
2. Duval Princess – Jacksonville, Florida. January 2, 2022. Age 24.
3. Naomie Skinner – Detroit, Michigan, February 12, 2022. Age 25.
4. Cypress Ramos – Lubbock, Texas, February 13, 2022. Age 21.
5. Paloma Velasquez – Houston, Texas, February 26, 2022. Age 29.
6. Matthew Spampinato – New Castle, Delaware, February 9, 2022. Age 21.
7. Tatiana LaBelle – Chicago, Illinois, March 18, 2022. Age 33.
8. Kathryn Newhouse – Canton, Georgia, March 19, 2022. Age 19.
9. Kesha Webster – Jackson, Mississippi, March 26, 2022. Age 24.
10. Miia Love Parker – Chester, Pennsylvania, April 1, 2022. Age 25.
11. Ariyanna Mitchell – Hampton, Virginia, April 2, 2022. Age 17.
12. Fern Feather – Morristown, Vermont, April 12, 2022. Age 29.
13. Ray Muscat – Clarkston, Michigan, May 8, 2022. Age 24.
14. Nedra Sequence Moss – Opa-locka, Florida, May 14, 2022. Age 50.
15. Chanelika Y’Ella Dior Hemingway aka “Sid” – Albany, New York, May 31, 2022. Age 30.
16. Sasha Mason – Zebulon, North Carolina, May 13, 2022. Age 45.
17. Brazil Johnson – Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 15, 2022. Age 28.
18. Shawmayné Marie McClam – Gulfport, Mississippi, June 21, 2022. Age 27.
19. Kitty Monroe – Memphis, Tennessee, June 29, 2022. Age unknown.

These are deaths reported in 2022 and beyond.

• 52 Za’Niyah Williams – Houston, Texas. December 20, 2021, reported on Jan 5, 2022. Age 21.
• 53 Nikki Turrietta – Albuquerque, New Mexico, December 31, 2021, reported on January 27, 2022. Age 31.
• 54 Keeva Scatter – Baton Rouge, Louisiana, October 15, 2021, confirmed on February 13, 2022. Age 34.
• 55 Rubi Dominguez – Brownsville, Texas, July 15, 2021, confirmed on February 13, 2022. Age 29.
• 56 Martina Caldera – Houston, Texas, December 6, 2021. Age 38.
• 57 Geri Judd – Bossier, Louisiana, September 28, 2021, confirmed March 1, 2022. Age 60