LGBTQ community and loved ones mourn transgender woman killed in Highland Park
HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) – Detroit's LGBTQ community is mourning the death of a transgender woman killed on the first day of Pride month.
Alantae Martin says his sister Ashia Davis had finished nursing school and was to begin her new job this week.
"She was ready to take on the world, and she was ready to help. And she was ready to care for others, and she was ready to give back to her community," Martin told CBS News Detroit on Wednesday.
But last Thursday, someone killed the 34-year-old in the room she was staying in at the Woodward Inn.
"She's not the kind of person who deserves anything like this. I've literally seen her give her earrings, her jacket. Like, literally take it off and give it to someone else who didn't have it. She didn't deserve it. So I just want to know why," Martin said.
Michigan State Police released security video of a possible suspect wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt or jacket, black Adidas jogging pants, and black Nike shoes with a white or grey emblem on the tongue.
"I am very, very confident that because of the clothing, the distinctive shoes, the pants, the distinctive walk, that we're going to continue to get calls like we have been that are going to result in justice," Julisa Abad, Director of Transgender Advocacy for the Fair Michigan Justice Project said.
According to "Everytown for Gun Safety," since January 2017, there have been 221 homicides of transgender individuals in America, and 68% were Black women.
"Now, because Elliott Larsen has included gender identity and sexual orientation. It gives my community the ability to civilly sue, but that doesn't mean that people still don't have their biases and that these things aren't still happening. So that's part of the component as to why trans women of color experience higher crimes of mortality and violence," Abad told CBS News Detroit.
Wednesday evening Davis' friends and loved ones will gather at White Star in Hamtramck for a celebration of life.
Anyone with information regarding this case can reach state police at 855-MICH-TIP or Crime stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.