A black transgender woman was found dead Sunday morning (March 31) in Prince George’s County, Maryland, NBC News reports. Ashanti Carmon reportedly died from a gunshot wound.
Carmon’s fiancé, Phillip Williams told local NBC Washington that they went out on Friday night. After their outing, she met with her friends while he went to work. According to Williams, he didn’t hear back from Carmon since their parting.
“She did not deserve to leave this earth so early, and especially in the way she went out — she did not deserve that,” Williams said. “Until I leave this world, I’m going to continue on loving her in my heart body and soul.”
Reportedly, officers responded to numerous 911 calls that detailed a slew of gunshots heard around Eastern Avenue, the intersection at the border of Washington, D.C., and Maryland.
Carmon’s untimely death accounts for the ongoing violence against transgender women of color. In 2018, an estimate of 25 transgender people was killed—most of them were black or Latina transgender women—Trans Griot reports, per Out.
According to a report by The Human Rights Campaign, between 2017 and 2018, 82 percent of trans people killed were transgender women of color; 64 percent of those women were under the age of 35.
In January, Dana Martin, a 31-year-old black transgender woman from Alabama was fatally shot and found in a ditch after a reported car crash. It was the first recorded case of transgender violence since 2019 began.
