Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Please be sure to read the notes at the bottom of this post regarding updated information on deaths of our neighbors whose identities are unconfirmed or the cause of death is not yet determine to be suspicious. There are some discrepencies in the numbers being reported. I don’t claim to be exactly right, but I want to be clear that I’m trying to confirm all of the pending information. ~ Sue

Tragic news once again from Kansas City with the murder of Brianna “BB” Hill. She was 30 years old. Brianna’s name is also spelled as Breonna Be’Be Hill on her Facebook page. Brianna was a former member of the House of Dior. Her Facebook posts reflect her playful and serious sides as well as some of her fandoms.

She was shot to death Monday morning on the east side of Kansas City, local TV station KCTV reports. The person who police believe committed the crime remained at the scene and was taken into custody; the suspect’s name has not been released.

Early reports in Kansas City media misgendered and deadnamed Brianna. This is especially infuriating given multiple murders tied to transgender and nonbinary individduals in that city. In June of this year, Brooklyn Lindsay was murdered. In September, Jamar Berryman was murdered. He was originally identified as a trans woman, but his identity has since been confirmed to be a gender nonconforming gay man.**** And in 2015, Tamara Dominguez was murdered close to the same spot as Brianna. Jasmine Collins was also murdered in Kansas City in 2015.

There are no details yet on final arrangements for Brianna.

Rest in power, Brianna. Your life should have been filled with many more years of light and laughter. It is a terrible world when an arguement ends in homicide. I hope justice will prevail and that you find peace.

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. Itali Marlowe, Houston, September 20, 2019. Age 29.
20. Brianna Hill, Kansas City, October 14, 2019. Age 30.

** 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.

**** Ja’leyah-Jamar Berryman was killed in September across the state line in Kansas City, Kan. Initial reports identified the victim as a trans woman, but Berryman’s family released a video saying Berryman was male. In keeping with LGBTQ media outlets, I have removed Berryman from my list pending any further information.