Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

There is not much detail available, but the May 31, 2022 death of a Black trans woman in Albany, New York has been ruled a homicide. Her name was Chanelika Y’Ella Dior Hemingway also known as Sid or Cyd according to her Facebook profiles.

She was 30. Note the media reporting uses the appropriate pronouns, but also her dead name.

On Tuesday, May 31, 2022 around 9:15 a.m., officers responded to an apartment on Old Hickory Drive within the Loudon Arms Apartments to check the welfare of a tenant. Upon arrival, officers discovered that the tenant, a 30-year-old woman, was found deceased inside her apartment.

The Albany Police Department is investigating but has not released any details on this case. The family has indicated that Ahsid died a “violent death,” presumably at the hands of another.

If you have any information about this death please contact the Albany Police Department Detectives at 518-438-4000 OR you can be anonymous and contact TDI at 775-800-6635. You may leave a voicemail or a text message there.

She was born and raised in Guilderland, New York. She was close with her mom, cousins, and her niece. She graduated from Albany High School and studied at Hudson Valley Community College. She turned 30 at the beginning of May. And she also graduated from the University of Albany with a bachelor’s degree.

“Sid mattered. And Sid is a sibling and a community member of our community,” said Tandra LaGrone. LaGrone is the CEO at In Our Own Voices, the Capital District nonprofit that works to support the wellbeing of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of color. LaGrone says Sid was a much loved member of the Capital Region’s LGBTQ community. “It is important that justice and whomever harmed and murdered Sid is brought to justice,” said LaGrone.

The organization has so far raised $3,000 in reward funds for information leading to an arrest in the homicide. Donations continue to increase the reward.

She is the 15th transgender person reported as a victim of fatal violence in 2022. She is the ninth Black trans woman and the eleventh woman of color from these neighbors. At age 30, she is among the oldest of the victims. Her death means a trans neighbor has been murdered every 9.5 days in 2022 in the United States. To date the victims include 9 Black trans women, 2 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.

Rest in power, Chanelika. Your vibrant life force touched and inspired many people. You lived on your own terms and deserved so many more years. Thank you for all that you brought to this world. I am sorry we did not keep you safe.

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.

Deaths in 2021 (see this link for deaths reported during the 2021 calendar year) These are deaths reported in 2022 and beyond.

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.