Black trans woman, long-time LGBTQ rights advocate, fatally shot at New Jersey home; suspect arrested

Shai Vanderpump, a 23-year-old Black transgender woman and long-time LGBTQ rights advocate, was fatally shot in Trenton, N.J., late last week.

A suspect has been arrested, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Special Investigations Unit. Daniel L. Smith, 36, was taken into custody late Saturday evening. He is charged with one count of murder and multiple weapons offenses.

News of her death was first made public by Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ advocacy and education organization.

“We are devastated to learn that Shai Vanderpump, who many know in Trenton and across NJ as a fierce LGBTQ advocate, was tragically murdered this morning around 4:30 am,” the group wrote on Twitter.

“As we await more details, we are in contact with [the office of the NJ attorney general]’s Bias Crime Unit and will fight to bring justice to Shai and her loved ones,” the group added.

Vanderpump was shot in the face on Friday at a home in Trenton, local police said. She was taken to the Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead a short time later, the Trentonian reported.

“Detectives continue to investigate what prompted the attack. The case remains under investigation for potential bias charges as [Vanderpump] is transgender and identified as female,” police said in a press release in which the victim was referred to by a different name.

A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Vanderpump’s funeral expenses suggests that she was murdered while trying to protect a loved one. She had “a heart of gold,” and she “loved to see everyone happy & smile.”

Vanderpump’s tragic death represents at least the 32nd killing of a transgender or gender non-conforming person in the U.S. in 2021, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Tori Cooper, the organization’s director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, said in a statement that Vanderpump’s killing is “devastating.”

“Her loss will be felt by her friends, family and local community, as well as the wider LGBTQ community. Her life should never have been taken. Too many transgender and gender non-conforming lives have already been lost. We need everyone, in every state, city and community, to help bring an end to this senseless violence and stigma that so often impacts Black trans women,” added Cooper.

Last year, the HRC 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.