2 trans women shot to death in Charlotte, N. Carolina just days apart
Two transgender women were killed in Charlotte, N.C. just 11 days apart, police said in a press conference Thursday.
Jaida Peterson, a 29-year-old Black transgender woman, was found at the Quality Inn hotel in west Charlotte on April 4.
“Fast forward to the early hours of this morning,” a police spokesperson said, “yet another victim was found shot to death in a hotel room.”
According to Rob Tufano, public safety communications director for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the still unnamed victim was found at the Sleep Inn on North Tryon Street.
“Both of those victims, the one from Easter Sunday and the one from earlier this morning [were] transgender women, both of them were sex workers...both of them shot to death in hotels,” Tufano said.
On Thursday evening, Equality NC tweeted an “urgent safety alert for the Charlotte area.”
“Due to similarities between the murder of Jaida Peterson on Easter Sunday and the woman found this morning who remains unnamed, police believe these two acts of violence could possibly be connected,” the group wrote.
They called “all queer and trans folks who engage in sex work — and even those who don’t — in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area” to stay on “high alert and aware of anything that feels off or suspect as they move through the world.”
RIGHT NOW: @CMPD is providing updates on two recent homicide investigations in the #Charlotte Area. Watch Live: https://t.co/H1k1uhkTQx #cmpd #cltnews
— CMPD News (@CMPD) April 15, 2021
On Friday, Charlotte Pride echoed that sentiment urging people to “stay vigilant, check in with your trans friends and family, and keep each other supported and safe.”
Even though police say it’s too soon to determine whether the cases are linked, they are concerned that someone could be targeting transgender women in the area.
“We just flat-out don’t know at this point” if the homicides are connected, Tufano said, but the similarities in the case have gotten their attention.
“This needs to get the attention of the community,” he said. “This isn’t something we see frequently. It’s something we rarely see and it’s important the community understands that.”
Tufano said that police want the community needs to understand the need to be on high alert — “especially our LGBTQ community, especially members of [that] community who engage in sex work.”
“There is probably, arguably, never a more vulnerable time for them than tonight — until this person, these people, whomever it is that is responsible for these cases, is apprehended,” he added.
🚨 URGENT COMMUNITY SAFETY ALERT 🚨
T/W: Anti-transgender violence
Transgender women and the broader LGBTQ community in Charlotte , especially those community members who engage in sex work, are being urgently warned and cautioned to protect their personal safety. /1— Charlotte Pride (@cltpride) April 15, 2021
At least 15 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been violently killed in the U.S. in 2021.
Last year, the Human Rights Campaign, recorded at least 44 violent deaths of transgender or gender non-conforming people — nearly all of them were transgender women of color — marking the most violent year on record for the U.S. trans community since the organization began tracking such crimes in 2013.
“This violence is alarming and unacceptable,” Tori Cooper, HRC director of community engagement for the transgender justice initiative, said in a statement.
No suspects in the Charlotte homicides have been identified.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is asking anyone with information to contact 704-432-TIPS, or leave information anonymously with Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or charlottecrimestoppers.com.
