A hit-and-run incident claimed the life of 37 year old Black trans woman Honee Daniels in Rochester, New York.
The Crime
Honee was a pedestrian on Lyelle Avenue near Broad Street in her hometown of Rochester. Shortly before midnight on October 3rd, she was struck and killed by a driver who left the scene. First responders arrived on the scene. She was pronounced dead soon afterward.
Police state that they have identified the car and the driver. No arrests have been made according to WHAM in Rochester.
In addition, Honee was deadnamed and misgendered by local Rochester media. Friends and activists acted swiftly to address those inaccuracies, another familiar layer of grief for the trans community. This was a trend that seemed to wane at the end of the 2000 teens as more media outlets were careful with their reporting. but has been on the increase in recent years. We need more care to how all trans related stories are being reported.
Honoring Honee
I have not found many personal details about Honee. She has family in Rochester. She has a lot of people who loved her and are torn up about her death. They’ve been busy correcting false reporting and being very precise about her namee.
Her friend Reece Diamond shared “no judgment, all love, always and forever.”
Cattaleya Tollinchi wrote “she was a amazing person with a heart of gold.”
A celebration of life for Honee Walker is scheduled forOctober 18 at the Wegman Building in Rochester’s Seneca Park. Visitation hours are from 1 to 6 p.m. and a memorial service at 6 p.m.
The Context
Honee is the 34th trans person whose death has been reported in 2024. Reported means the death may have been earlier or that we do not have all of the details. You may notice in my list later in this post that I try to make some distinctions. As of this post, I have now identified 29 individuals who were killed this year and 34 total individuals whose deaths became known to us this year.
I know this is confusing. Death cannot be neatly contained in data and reporting, but it is essential that we try to describe this epidemic of violence with every possible tool.
She is the 25th trans woman, the 14th Black trans woman, and the 20th trans woman of color on our list. In total 25 out of the 27 individuals were BIPOC. As of this post, a trans person’s violent murder has been reported in the US every 9 days this year.
Other deaths reported ini the state of New York are: 2024 Cecilia Gentili , 2022 Chanelika Y’Ella Dior Hemingway aka “Sid” ; 2020 Lexi ; Tiffany Harris; Alexandria Winchester 2019 Sahira Nesby; 2017 Brenda Bostick I personally find it hard to believe in a city the size of New York alone, there are not more violent deaths much less statewide. This underreporting is one reason to push back hard against misgendering and deadnaming by media and law enforcement.
Rest in power, Honee. You were loved fiercely by your friends. Crossing the street should be safe. Stopping to help should be second-nature. I am so sorry this driver took your life and didn’t take responsibility for doing so. You deserved to be able to cross the street.
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.
- Kitty Monroe – January 1, 2024. Phoenix, Arizona. Age 43.
- Nex Benedict – February 8, 2024. Owasso, Oklahoma. Age 16.
- Righteous Torrence ‘T K’ Chevy Hill – February 29, Atlanta. Georgia. Age 35.
- Reyna Hernandez – Between Feb 28 and March 28, location TBD. Age 54.
- Diamond Cherish Brigman – March 16, 2024, Houston, Texas. Age 36.
- Alex Franco – March 19, 2024. Salt Lake City, Utah. Age 21.
- Meraxes Medina – March 19, 2024, Los Angeles, California. Age 24.
- Cecilia Gentili – February 6, 2024, New YorkCity, New York. Age 52.
- Lagend Billions aka Tee Arnold – April 7, 2024, Miami, Ohio. Age 36.
- África Parrilla García – February 2, 2024, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Age 25.
- Nevaeh ‘River’ Goddard – April 5, 2024,. Stow, Massachusetts. Age 17,
- Andrea Doria Dos Passos – April 22, 2024, Miami, Florida. Age 37.
- Sasha Williams – January 26, 2024, Las Vegas, Nevada. Age 36.
- Kita Bee – May 3, 2024, Kansas City, Missouri. Age 46.
- Starr Brown – April 19, Memphis, Tennessee. Age 28.
- Jazlynn Johnson – May 6, 2024, Carson City, Nevada. Age 18.
- Michelle Henry – May 15, 2024, San Francisco, California. Age 25.
- Tayy Dior Thomas – May 7, 2024, Mobile, Alabama. Age 17
- Pauly Likens – June 23, 2024, Sharon, Pennsylvania. Age 14
- Shannon Boswell – July 2, 2024, Atlanta, Georgia. Age 30.
- Liara Kaylee Tsai – June 22, 2024, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Age 35.
- Kenji Spurgeon – July 1, 2024, Seattle, Washington. Age: 23
- Monique Brooks – July 19, 2024. Orlando, Florida. Age 59.
- Dylan Gurley – July 24, 2024. Denton, Texas. Age 20.
- Tai Lathan – August 4, 2024. Baltimore, Maryland. Age 24.
- Vanity Williams – August 3, 2024. Houston, Texas. Age 34.
- Redd ‘Barbie’ Joseph – September 8, 2024. Chicago, Illinois. Age 25.
- Kassim Omar – September 6, 2024. Columbus, Ohio. Age 29.
- Honee Daniels – October 3, 2024. Rochester, New York. Age 37
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 15,’
Discover more from Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
You must be logged in to post a comment.