Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

The Crime

My recent post about the violent deaths of 14 trans youth brought to my attention a young Black trans man, Morgan Moore. At 17 years of age, Morgan was killed by his parents through neglect, including hunger, horrific living conditions, and a lack of medical care.

That’s filicide. A parent, or parents, killing their child. Withholding food, medical care, and contact with the world to the point that Morgan died is filicide.

Morgan died in May 2022 at his family home in Montgomery Village, Maryland. He and his siblings were kept isolated by their parents, allegedly homeschooled, rarely allowed outside into the yard to the point that several neighbors didn’t know the children even existed. Including Morgan.

He weighed 79 lbs at the time of his death. First responders were called to his home, where they found him unresponsive after he allegedly choked on apple juice. His parents Dominique and Cynthia Moore, reported that he hadn’t seen a doctor in two years, according to the Disability Day of Mourning website. He had diabetes and multiple sclerosis and was suffering from long-term effects of COVID-19. He had lost the ability to walk and had an abscess on his back.

According to The Washington Post (note misgendering in article):

The case took a year to put together; even completing an autopsy was difficult because of the dearth of medical records for the child, prosecutors said. Medical examiners ultimately ruled the teen’s death a homicide caused by “complications of neurological disorder.” Investigators assert the child wouldn’t have died had she “received the medical attention she desperately needed

In April 2003, his death was determined to be homicide. His parents were charged with second degree murder and six counts of neglect of a minor, one each for their minor children. It appears that they had two adult children also living in the home at the time.

Three adult children family over the age of 18 are still living in the home. The six minor children have been placed in foster care.

In July 2023, Cynthia Moore was released to home detention due to her poor health. According to the Maryland court docket, criminal trials are scheduled for September and October 2024.

Honoring Morgan

According to comments from family, Morgan was “a celebrated artist, self taught guitarist, cook, keyboard player, gamer and all around great person.”He had expressed a wish to travel to Japan.

Morgan’s sibling told reporters

 “I just want my brother to be remembered as the artist and the person he was. He was a good person,” Morgan’s sibling says. “I want people who are transphobic and not accepting of their children to accept their kids for who they are and love them no matter what.”

Tori Cooper with HRC said at the time

“What happened to Morgan was inhumane,” said a statement from Tori Cooper, director of community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initiative. “Morgan deserved the same respect and love from his parents as he received from his siblings, who were such a loving support in his life. Morgan’s beautiful memory is a reminder to all of us that we need to do better. Folks living with disabilities, Black and Brown people, and transgender people require the same love and respect that is given so freely to the many who take it for granted. We’ll remember Morgan as the bright artist and good person that he was.”

That sweet smile in the photo is mesmerizing. I have been unable to find information on funeral or burial arrangements. So we keep his memory alive via blog post.

The Context

We have three perspectives on Morgan’s murder – the year he died in 2022, the year his identity as a trans teen became public 2023, and 2024 the year that I learned about his death.

This is one reason memorials are so important. The visibility brings other atrocities to light. One story begets another.

What immediately struck me is that Morgan’s death at the hands of his parents came so close to the filicide of 19 year old Kathryn Newhouse. in 2022. Morgan would have been the 19th reported death that year. And the youngest. We eventually reported on the murders of 40 individuals.

In 2022, we documented 41 deaths or one person every 11 days. Five individuals were 21 and under that year. As I recently wrote in a blog post, I documented 14 deaths in that age group from January 2023 to June 2024. With the news of Morgan’s murder, I now have memorialized 19 deaths in that age group from 2022 through the present day.

19 kids really, murdered across two and half years. Each story more atrocious than the previous. Morgan’s parents treated him with such callous disregard for his humanity. And yet his siblings absorbed a trans affirming understanding of the world in spite of it all. I can only assume he taught them by example or through the interactions they had online. That’s not a silver lining, but it is a tribute to the love these kids had for each other, for their true selves.

Their lives hevea meaning and value, all of them. I told a reporter today that the solution is not to get kids off social media, but to create real time spaces where they are respected, affirmed, and connected. That should be their whole world – home, school, faith community, the grocery store, medical providers, the park, and everywhere. These kids are leading us unflinchingly into a better understanding of identity. Are we able to keep up?

Rest in power, Morgan. I am deeply sorry that I did not witness and document your death in 2022. You deserved to be acknowledged and honored. Thank you for bringing your beautiful vision, your passion, and your sweetness to this world. Thank you for loving your siblings and showing your true self to your family, even at great cost. We will do better as we move forward.

May your memory be a revolution.

This is Our List

This is our list of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming neighbors who have been victims of the campaign of terror in 2024. Please do not copy, modify, or share this list without attribution.

Things have grown so complicated that I have separated out the deaths dated to 2024 from those reported this year, but took place in another year.

1. Kitty Monroe – January 1, 2024. Phoenix, Arizona. Age 43.
2. Nex Benedict – February 8, 2024. Owasso, Oklahoma. Age 16.
3. Righteous Torrence ‘T K’ Chevy Hill – February 29, Atlanta. Georgia. Age 35.
4. Reyna Hernandez – Between Feb 28 and March 28, location TBD. Age 54.
5. Diamond Cherish Brigman – March 16, 2024, Houston, Texas. Age 36.
6. Alex Franco – March 19, 2024. Salt Lake City, Utah. Age 21.
7. Meraxes Medina – March 19, 2024, Los Angeles, California. Age 24.
8. Cecilia Gentili – February 6, 2024, New YorkCity, New York. Age 52.
9. Lagend Billions aka Tee Arnold – April 7, 2024, Miami, Ohio. Age 36.
10. África Parrilla García – February 2, 2024, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Age 25.
11. Nevaeh ‘River’ Goddard – April 5, 2024,. Stow, Massachusetts. Age 17,
12. Andrea Doria Dos Passos – April 22, 2024, Miami, Florida. Age 37.
13. Sasha Williams – January 26, 2024, Las Vegas, Nevada. Age 36.
14. Kita Bee – May 3, 2024, Kansas City, Missouri. Age 46.
15. Starr Brown – April 19, Memphis, Tennessee. Age 28.
16. Jazlynn Johnson – May 6, 2024, Carson City, Nevada. Age 18.
17. Michelle Henry – May 15, 2024, San Francisco, California. Age 25.
18. Tayy Dior Thomas – May 7, 2024, Mobile, Alabama. Age 17
19. Pauly Likens – June 23, 2024, Sharon, Pennsylvania. Age 14
20. Shannon Boswell – July 2, 2024, Atlanta, Georgia. Age 30.
21. Liara Kaylee Tsai – June 22, 2024, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Age 35.

Deaths reported in 2024 but took place in other years or need to be monitored for more information.

• Ryan Zimmerman – Sept 2015, Columbus OH Age 21 Murdered 2016, Identified 2020, reported 2024.
• Unknown Name – June 17, Denver, Colorado. Age unknown.
• Paris Rich Jessup – 13 June 2022, San Diego, California. Age 25.
• Kit Nelson-Mora, – 2021/2022 Washington State, 2022. Age 18.
• Niomi Jenkins – May 2024 San Francisco
• Morgan Moore – May 2022, Maryland. Age 17.