In Dallas, Texas, Muhlaysia Booker, a 23-year-old black transgender woman, was found fatally shot over the weekend. Last month, a cellphone video of a crowd physically attacking Booker as she lay on the ground made headlines. Police say men in the video were shouting homophobic slurs at Booker, who eventually got away with the help of a group of women. Authorities say there is nothing connecting the perpetrator of last month’s attack, Edward Thomas, to her shooting as of now.
Muhlaysia Booker is at least the seventh known transgender person to be killed in the U.S. in 2019, according to the Human Rights Campaign. HRC says at least 26 transgender murders were recorded last year, although it’s likely the actual number is higher; the majority of those were black transgender women.