Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

A 48-year-old Black trans person died under suspicious circumstances in Athens, Georgia on Saturday, October 19, 2024. Their name was San Coleman.

A critically injured San was found by police officers dispatched to a reported injured person on the Trail Creek Trail, which is located behind the University of Georgia’s Chicopee Complex. They were transported to a nearby hospital where they later died.

A neighbor found San unresponsive and called 911.

Police have identified San’s death as suspicious, categorized as a homicide investigation. The case was assigned to Detective Christina Bradshaw. Anyone with information may contact her at 762-400-7323 or Christina.Bradshaw@accgov.com. San’s family has been investigating on their own, asking anyone with information to come forward.

Today, investigators said that while the death is still suspicious, they are exploring the possibility that the death was accidental.

Honoring San

San’s identity is not exactly clear. Family refer to them as a gay man, but most of San’s photos are femme presenting. Some friends use female pronouns, others use male. One thread referred them by the name Strawberry. I cannot find any social media accounts for San. So after consulting with other researchers, I am using gender nonconforming language and they/them pronouns.

Their family spoke with 11Alive, describing San as the life of the party, colorful and someone didn’t shy away from their identity.

Born and raised in Athens, San had close relationships with their mother and younger sister along with members of their extended family.

Friends and family have put out an alert than there is no official fundraising for San’s final expenses. Any donation should be directed to San’s mother, Mary Coleman. Sadly it seems people are trying to profit from their death.

The Context

San is the 35th 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 30 individuals who were killed this year and plus five 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.

Among the 35 deaths reported in 2024 to date, 28 including San have been BIPOC. 25 of the individuals on our list were Black transgender folx.

San is the third trans person in Georgia whose death has been reported in 2024. Others were: 2024 Righteous Torrence ‘T K’ Chevy Hill, Shannon Boswell  Our records show at least 15 different trans people have been killed in Georgia since 2017, all of them people of color – Black, Latinx, and Asian-American.

2023 Tortuguita, Ashley Burton, and Rasheeda Williams; 2022 Kathryn Newhouse, Keshia Chanel Geter; 2021Bianca ‘Muffin’ Bankz, Sophie Vasquez, and Serenity Hollis; 2020 Felycya Harris, 2018 Nino Fortson 2017 Tee Tee Dangerfield Ava Le’Ray Barrin and Candace Towns.

Rest in power, San. Your family loves you fiercely and clearly will continue to advocate for justice in your death. Your aunt, uncle, and cousin have been walking your final miles searching for clues or witnesses. People love you so much. Whatever happened on the trail, you deserved to come home safely.

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.
22. Kenji Spurgeon – July 1, 2024, Seattle, Washington. Age: 23
23. Monique Brooks – July 19, 2024. Orlando, Florida. Age 59.
24. Dylan Gurley – July 24, 2024. Denton, Texas. Age 20.
25. Tai Lathan – August 4, 2024. Baltimore, Maryland. Age 24.
26. Vanity Williams – August 3, 2024. Houston, Texas. Age 34.
27. Redd ‘Barbie’ Joseph – September 8, 2024. Chicago, Illinois. Age 25.
28. Kassim Omar – September 6, 2024. Columbus, Ohio. Age 29.
29. Honee Daniels – October 3, 2024. Rochester, New York. Age 37
30. San Coleman – October 19, 2024. Athens, Georgia. Age 48.

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,