2018 Fatal Violence Against Transgender People

#	Victim Name	Race	Age	City, State	Date	Cause of Death	Circumstances	Police-Involved	Bias Motive	Suspect(s)	Suspect Race	Suspect Gender	Suspect Age	Status	Source
1	Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien	White	42	North Adams, MA	Jan 5, 2018	Stabbed / bludgeoned	Killed by her husband with a hammer and knife in their home after a domestic argument. He confessed to police the same night, saying he "snapped."	No	No Evidence	Mark Steele-Knudslien (husband)	White	Male	47	Convicted	The Independent
2	Viccky Gutierrez	Latina	33	Los Angeles, CA	Jan 10, 2018	Stabbed / arson	Met suspect online for paid sex; he demanded a refund. When she refused, he stabbed her and set the apartment on fire. Arrested the next day.	No	No Evidence	Kevyn Ramirez	Hispanic	Male	29	Convicted	CBS Los Angeles
3	Zakaria Fry	White	28	Albuquerque, NM	Jan 18, 2018	Blunt force trauma	She and her 70-year-old roommate were bludgeoned to death by a man staying with them. Bodies found a month later in trash bins 40 miles away; suspect used victim's credit cards. Spiess was sentenced to 30 years in prison.	No	Unknown	Charles Anthony Spiess (a.k.a. James Knight)	White	Male	32	Convicted	KRQE
4	Celine Walker	Black	36	Jacksonville, FL	Feb 4, 2018	Gunshot	Shot multiple times in an Extended Stay hotel room after an argument with someone she had a previous relationship with. DNA match led to arrest 19 months later; suspect admitted to the killing. Phoenix pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in October 2020 and was sentenced to 35 years in Florida State Prison.	No	Unknown	Sean Bernard Phoenix	Black	Male	21	Convicted	Jacksonville.com
5	Tonya Harvey	Black	35	Buffalo, NY	Feb 6, 2018	Gunshot	Shot and killed on a dead-end street on Buffalo's East Side. DA investigated as a potential hate crime but ultimately concluded the killing was NOT a hate crime. $4,000 Crime Stoppers reward offered. As of 2021, family still seeking justice; possible witness-silencing motive identified by Erie County DA. No arrest made. Bias coding: Changed from Unknown to No Evidence — Erie County DA concluded the killing was not motivated by anti-transgender bias.	No	No Evidence	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	Buffalo News
6	Phylicia Mitchell	Black	45	Cleveland, OH	Feb 23, 2018	Gunshot	Shot in the chest inside her home. Her roommate Gary Sanders was charged with aggravated murder. At trial, Sanders was acquitted of murder but convicted of involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, and weapons charges. Sentenced to 15.5 years. Prosecutors said the killing was not transgender-related.	No	No Evidence	Gary Lamar Sanders	Black	Male	36	Convicted	WSAZ
7	Amia Tyrae Berryman	Black	28	Baton Rouge, LA	Mar 26, 2018	Gunshot	Found shot to death at the Shades Motel on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge. Surveillance footage showed Dedrick Butler entering Berryman's motel room just after 1 AM; a gunshot was heard minutes later. Butler was seen on video calmly leaving and fleeing in a black four-door vehicle. Police used the victim's phone to identify Butler and arrested him four days later on March 30, 2018. Charged with second-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number. Indicted by grand jury. Bond set at $350,000. Note: HRC and LGBTQ advocacy organizations initially reported this case but never published follow-up coverage of the arrest, creating a persistent gap in community datasets.	No	Unknown	Dedrick Butler	Black	Male	22	Arrested / Indicted	WBRZ
8	Sasha Wall	Black	29	Chesterfield County, SC	Apr 1, 2018	Gunshot (multiple)	Found shot multiple times in her running car on a rural road on Easter Sunday; the car had been idling ~2 hours. Phone missing. Sheriff believes she knew her killer. $1,000 reward offered. As of May 2025, Chesterfield County has a dedicated "war room" for this case; evidence has been resubmitted for forensic testing. The murder weapon and Wall's cellphone remain missing. This is the county's only unsolved homicide in 17 years.	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	Post and Courier
9	Karla Patricia Flores-Pavón	Latina	26	Dallas, TX	May 9, 2018	Strangulation	Strangled in her apartment. Suspect met her online, was arrested 8 days later during a traffic stop with her property. Police determined motive was robbery. Note: Initial police reports described the suspect as a "Latin male"; Johnson is Black. Johnson convicted of capital murder on August 18, 2022 (jury deliberated 14 minutes) and sentenced to automatic life without parole.	No	No Evidence	Jimmy Eugene Johnson III	Black	Male	24	Convicted	Dallas Voice
10	Nino Fortson	Black	36	Atlanta, GA	May 13, 2018	Gunshot	A transgender man/gender-nonconforming person shot during a street argument. Fortson fired a gun in the air and walked away before being shot by someone in the group. Atlanta Police Department stated there was "no evidence at all" that gender identity played a role. Bias coding: Changed from Unknown to No Evidence — APD explicitly found no connection to gender identity; the altercation was interpersonal.	No	No Evidence	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	Atlanta Journal-Constitution
11	Gigi Pierce	White	28	Portland, OR	May 21, 2018	Gunshot	Shot during a sidewalk altercation with friend Sophia Adler. A grand jury reviewed evidence over 3 days and declined to indict Adler for murder, ruling self-defense after finding Pierce had a knife and attempted to stab Adler. Adler pled guilty only to unlawful firearm possession (no concealed carry license) and was sentenced to 100 days in jail.	No	No Evidence	Sophia Grace Adler (self-defense ruled)	White	Female	33	Self-Defense	KOIN
12	Antash'a English	Black	38	Jacksonville, FL	Jun 1, 2018	Gunshot	Shot in a drive-by and found between two abandoned homes. Before dying, she told police the suspect wore a gray hoodie and left in a gray four-door car. Performer at InCahoots Night Club for 10 years. Jacksonville's 2nd trans homicide of 2018.	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	OutSFL
13	Diamond Stephens	Black	39	Meridian, MS	Jun 18, 2018	Gunshot	Shot in the back of the head while driving home. Her van crashed into a house. One or two other individuals may have been in the vehicle. Police/media misgendered her for over a month.	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	WTOK
14	Cathalina Christina James	Black	24	Jacksonville, FL	Jun 24, 2018	Gunshot	Shot at the Quality Inn hotel. Police released a suspect sketch and surveillance footage of a beige/white suspect vehicle in August 2018. $3,000 Crime Stoppers reward offered. Jacksonville's 3rd trans homicide of 2018, prompting activists to fear a serial killer targeting trans women. James' father believes she was targeted.	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	OutSFL
15	Keisha Wells	Black	54	Cleveland, OH	Jun 24, 2018	Gunshot	Shot in a parking lot; 11 shell casings found. Last seen at Cocktails bar. James Butler was charged with complicity to aggravated murder for his role in the killing and disposal of the body, but the primary shooter remains unidentified.	No	Unknown	James Butler (accomplice only)	Black	Male	27	Unsolved	Cleveland.com
16	Sasha Garden	Black	27	Orlando, FL	Jul 19, 2018	Trauma (unspecified)	Found dead at an Orlando apartment complex with trauma to her body. She was a sex worker and aspiring hairstylist from Milwaukee. Sheriff initially misgendered her. $5,000 reward offered.	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	OutSFL
17	Dejanay Stanton	Black	24	Chicago, IL	Aug 30, 2018	Gunshot	Shot in the head in a South Side alley. She had a secret sexual relationship with 17-year-old Tremon Hill (400+ texts). Hill expressed suicidal feelings about the relationship and asked her to delete their photos before killing her.	No	Suspected Bias	Tremon T. Hill	Black	Male	17	Arrested	Chicago Sun-Times
18	Vontashia Bell	Black	18	Shreveport, LA	Aug 30, 2018	Gunshot	Found shot in the chest and wrist on a Shreveport street around 4:30 AM. She was a senior at Woodlawn High. Youngest known trans victim of 2018. No arrest made.	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	KSLA
19	Shantee Tucker	Black	30	Philadelphia, PA	Sep 5, 2018	Gunshot (8 times)	Shot 8 times on Old York Road after arguing with someone in a black pickup truck. She had just turned 30. The area was known as a stroll for trans sex workers. Police said the killing was not motivated by gender identity.	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	PhillyVoice
20	Londonn Moore (Tyren Kinard)†	Black	20	North Port, FL	Sep 8, 2018	Gunshot (multiple)	Found shot multiple times in the head and upper body, left face-down on a remote street. Her car was found days later in Punta Gorda, less than a quarter mile from the suspect's home. Police linked Juan Salazar-Diaz through fingerprints on a cigarette pack at the scene and DNA in the victim's car. Phone records showed prior contact between the two. Salazar-Diaz, who had six prior felony convictions and had been released from prison only months before, was convicted of second-degree murder and grand theft auto in March 2024 and sentenced to life without parole in June 2024 under Florida's prison releasee re-offender law. †Note: At trial, prosecutors and the victim's mother confirmed Kinard identified as a gay man, not transgender. Included per HRC listing, but classification is disputed.	No	Unknown	Juan Jose Salazar-Diaz	Hispanic	Male	~21	Convicted	MySuncoast (WWSB)
21	Nikki Enriquez	Latina	28	Laredo, TX	Sep 15, 2018	Gunshot	Shot in the head by serial killer Juan David Ortiz, an active-duty Border Patrol intelligence supervisor who targeted sex workers. Ortiz had been a regular customer of most of his victims, paying for sexual encounters, but also expressed hatred for sex workers, telling investigators he wanted to "clean up the streets." Nikki was one of four victims killed over a 12-day span. Ortiz convicted of capital murder on all four counts in December 2022 and sentenced to life without parole. His appeal was denied in mid-2024.	No	No Evidence	Juan David Ortiz (serial killer, Border Patrol)	Hispanic	Male	35	Convicted	NPR
22	Ciara Minaj Carter Frazier	Black	31	Chicago, IL	Oct 3, 2018	Stabbing (multiple)	Stabbed multiple times in an abandoned building after an argument with a man. Body left in the backyard. She was a sex worker known in the ballroom scene; neighbors saw a regular male client in a white car. A person of interest was briefly detained in October 2018 but released; Cook County State's Attorney rejected felony charges for insufficient evidence. CPD clearance rate for trans homicides is only 14% (per 2024 Chicago Sun-Times investigation).	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	Chicago Sun-Times
23	Regina Denise Brown	Black	53	Orangeburg, SC	Oct 10, 2018	Beaten / arson	Found dead in her burning home. Police allege suspect Kenneth Jenkins beat her during an altercation, set the house on fire, and fled in her car. Jenkins, a recently released ex-convict, was charged with murder after allegedly confessing.	No	Unknown	Kenneth Lamont Jenkins	Black	Male	37	Arrested	Times and Democrat
24	Brittany White	Black	29	Dallas, TX	Oct 21, 2018	Gunshot	Found shot to death inside her car in southeast Dallas. Police investigated potential ties to serial killer Kendrell Lavar Lyles, who was arrested in June 2019 for the murders of Muhlaysia Booker and two others (FBI assisted). However, no charges were ever filed against Lyles or anyone else for White's murder specifically. Note: Dallas Voice initially described the victim as a gay man; HRC counted her as a transgender woman.	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	NBC DFW
25	Tydi Dansbury	Black	37	Baltimore, MD	Nov 26, 2018	Gunshot	Found with a gunshot wound on Guilford Avenue at 4:15 AM after neighbors reported hearing an argument. Died at the hospital. A dark-colored car was seen speeding from the scene. Case remains open.	No	Unknown	—	—	—	—	Unsolved	Washington Blade
26	Kelly Stough (Keanna Mattel)	Black	36	Detroit, MI	Dec 7, 2018	Gunshot	Found shot on a Detroit street near an area known for sex work. Former pastor Albert Weathers (of Logos Church, Detroit) was arrested 3 days later; he claimed self-defense. Prosecutors said it was a dispute over payment for sex. A sex worker testified Weathers routinely sought trans women. Weathers pled guilty to second-degree murder on July 27, 2023, and was sentenced September 8, 2023, to 8 years for murder plus 2 years for felony firearm. Case prosecuted through the Fair Michigan Justice Project.	No	Suspected Bias	Albert Weathers (former pastor)	Black	Male	46	Convicted	Detroit News

Fatal Violence Against Transgender & Gender-Non-Conforming People