The killings of 17-year-old Black transgender girl Brayla Stone and 22-year-old Black trans woman Merci Mack mark at least the 17th and 18th violent deaths of transgender people in the U.S. so far this year. Brayla Stone’s body was found in a car in a suburb of Little Rock, Arkansas, on June 25. Her death is now being investigated as a homicide after a man reportedly claimed on social media he had been paid $5,000 to kill her. An 18-year-old suspect was arrested last week. Merci Mack was found June 30 in Dallas, Texas, with a gunshot wound to the head. Mack had recently posted on Facebook that she was excited to return to her job at a restaurant that had been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.