Transgender Day of Remembrance 2014

Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed to memorialize people killed by prejudice against transgender and gender-variant people. It also raises public awareness of hate crimes committed against transgender people – an action the media doesn’t do well, as we saw during the reporting of Indianapolis resident Ashley Sherman’s death. Day of Remembrance publicly identifies (where possible) and honors victims of violence, especially those that might be forgotten due to living in marginalized circumstances or due to deliberate or unaware misgendering of the victim after their death. We recognize that transgender people are sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, parents and friends.

81 transgender people were murdered around the world in 2014, the vast majority of them women of color, including one woman, Ashley Sherman, who was murdered here in Indianapolis, Indiana last month. Her killer is still unknown. In 2003, Indianapolis resident Nireah Johnson was murdered as well; fortunately her killers were brought to justice and incarcerated for her death and the death of her friend Brandie Coleman.

Continue ReadingTransgender Day of Remembrance 2014

Another black trans woman murdered, misgendered & misnamed in Indianapolis

The body of Ashley Sherman was discovered on the east side of Indianapolis on Sunday evening by a police officer who was making a traffic stop in the area. Ashley was a black trans woman who identified as female according to family members, and called herself Ashley according to co-workers. She had been the victim of numerous cases of harassment and abuse, and was a runaway at age 12. Police later updated their reports with the information that Ashley had been shot in the head. Neighbors in the Tudor Park Condominiums report hearing a shot around midnight that evening.

Initial coverage of Ashley Sherman’s death was complicated by the police and local media misgendering her as male after initially identifying her as female, and mis-naming her as her dead name instead of her chosen name. Misreporting trans women’s murders by mis-gendering has been linked to problems with tracking murders of trans women nationwide and hampered police investigations of those murders. Mis-naming murder victims contributes to lack of police evidence as they attempt to speak to friends who might have known the victim by their chosen name but not their birth name.

GLAAD’s guidelines on trans people call for media to correctly identify and name trans people in news stories by their chosen names and gender markers.

GLAAD Media Reference Guide –Transgender Issues

GLAAD Media Reference Guide – In Focus: Covering the Transgender Community

Fox 59’s coverage currently mis-genders Ashley and mis-names her – Homicide investigation underway after officer finds body near road on east side (originally: Woman’s Body Found Near Road on City’s East Side)

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (October 27, 2014) – A man’s body was found near the road on the city’s east side early Monday morning.

An Indianapolis Metropolitan police officer was driving near the Tudor Park Condominiums near the intersection of East 38th Street and North Mitthoeffer Road around midnight when he looked out his car window and saw the deceased person. The officer had just finished a traffic stop nearby.

Officers collected evidence from the scene and removed the body. Detectives say the man, identified as 25-year-old Tajshon Sherman, had been shot in the head.

Sherman was listed as a runaway at the age of 12 and has been mentioned in dozens of Marion County police reports since then. Several of those cases list Sherman as the victim of harassment or abuse. Others list Sherman as the suspect in prostitution and commercial sex arrests.

The exact cause of death will be determined following an autopsy. However, police said they are investigating this as a homicide.

If you know anything, call Crime Stoppers at 317-262-TIPS.

Initially Fox gave Ashley correct pronouns in the video report, but “corrected” their written story after police identified Ashley and “updated” their report. Evidence of the initial story remains in the link to the news item: http://fox59.com/2014/10/27/womans-body-found-near-road-on-citys-east-side/. In addition, the sensationalism of noting Ashley’s arrests for sex work contributes to discrimination against her, as evidenced by the comments on some of the news reports about her.

The IndyStar similarly reported and then misreported Ashley’s discovery, as can be seen in their news story – Body found on Far Eastside ruled homicide

Police have identified the person whose body was found late Sunday night on the Far Eastside as 25-year-old Tajshon Sherman of Indianapolis.

Sherman’s body was found in the 3600 block of Tudor Park Drive about 11:40 p.m. Sunday, said a dispatcher with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

That is the area of Tudor Park Condominiums, which are east of Post Road and south of 38th Street.

Police have ruled the death a homicide.

The body was found outdoors in a grassy area along a road by an IMPD officer who spotted it as he drove past the area after making a traffic stop, IMPD Sgt. Kendale Adams said. Police originally identified the body as a woman’s but later said it was a man’s.

The body appeared to have sustained severe head injuries, Adams said. Police are unsure where or how the man was killed.

Anyone with information that could prove helpful to investigators may call Crime Stoppers at (317) 262-TIPS (8477).

WISH-TV’s coverage is mixed on identifying Ashley as she identified. They mention that she identified as female but neglect to mention Ashley’s chosen name and use her birth name instead – Mother calling for justice in Tajshon’s murder

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – An Indianapolis mother calls for justice after learning her child was found shot to death near the side of a road.

Deshea Sherman is pleading for whoever is responsible to come forward. Late Monday afternoon the Marion County corner identified the victim 25-year old Tajshon Sherman.

“That was my son. He had a life like everybody else did. He didn’t deserve to have to die like this,” Sherman said.

You could hear the pain and heartache in Sherman’s voice. She’s grieving about the tragic death of her son Tajshon. Police found the 25 year-old’s body lying under a light pole outside Tudor Park Condominiums. Investigators said Tajshon was shot to death.

“He didn’t deserve to die like that; no body deserves to be shot and killed,” said a family friend.

Family and friends gathered at the crime scene to console one another. They said Tajshon lived as a woman. The lead detective on the case was also on the scene looking for more clues into Tajshon’s death. He said right now they are not investigating Tajshon’s death as a hate crime.

“Everybody knew what he was and what he was about. That was still my child,” said Sherman.

“Shon was like a brother to me; he called me brother. He stayed at my house,” said family friend Kenneth Hearn.

Marleeta Wilcox lives in the east side neighborhood. She didn’t know Tajshon, but brought this small brown teddy bear to the scene.

“It’s just sad that (it) took someone’s child, somebody’s relative. Somebody loved that person and now they are gone,” Wilcox said.

“Not only did you hurt our family, but you hurt your own family for the crime that you have done,” said a family friend.

“You was wrong for what you did, you could have just let him go,” said Sherman.

Sherman said she will always be proud of Tajshon.

“Still proud to be his mother to this day and I love him no matter what and I just want justice done for him,” she said.

Police are not sure if Tajshon was killed where the body was found or if the body was dumped there.

It was after midnight when an officer on patrol doing a traffic stop found the body.

Anyone with information that could help police should call Crime Stoppers at 262-TIPS.

Tuesday at 5 p.m., the family will hold a candlelight vigil in the same spot where Tajshon’s body was found.

WRTV-6 has done better about telling Ashley’s story, although identifying her as trans might help police investigate her murder and they aren’t using her chosen name – Woman’s body found in east-side yard

INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis police are investigating the death of a 25-year-old woman whose body was found Sunday night.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said the woman’s body was found in the yard at 3752 Tudor Park Drive, which is near the intersection of 38th Street and Mitthoeffer Road on the city’s east side.

The body was later identified as Tajshon Sherman, 25, of Indianapolis. Her death has been ruled a homicide.

Police spotted the body during a routine patrol of the area.

In 2003, 17-year-old Nireah Johnson, a black trans woman was murdered after a man she was interested in found out she was trans. Nireah was killed along with her friend Brandie Coleman. News coverage of the two young women’s deaths was complicated and sensationalized by the mis-gendering and mis-naming of Nireah, which continued long after her death. She is currently buried at Crown Hill Cemetery under her birth name, Gregory Johnson.

Continue ReadingAnother black trans woman murdered, misgendered & misnamed in Indianapolis

Two Indianapolis men sentenced for killing trans teen, friend

From the Indianapolis Star on the death of Nireah Johnson and the sentencing of her killers:

Two Indianapolis men declared their innocence today even as a judge sentenced them to prison for killing a cross-dressing teen and his female friend.

Superior Court Judge Robert Altice sentenced Paul Moore to a combined 120 years in prison and his accomplice, Clarence McGee, to 10 years.

Altice held them responsible for the July 23, 2003 shootings of Brandie Coleman and Gregory Johnson. Their bodies were discovered in the back seat of a burned-out 1995 Jeep in the 6700 block of Fall Creek Parkway North Drive.

Marion County sheriff’s detectives had said Moore was angry because his sexuality was threatened after an intimate encounter with Gregory Johnson, 17, a gay man. Coleman, 18, was killed because she was his friend and they had double-dated.

Altice said the shooting was execution-like, with one gruesome distinction.

“They were shot in the front of the head, so both victims were able to observe their last fleeting moments as Mr. Paul Moore pulled the trigger,” Altice said. “The fact that (Johnson) was killed because he was different was the only reason.”

Mary Anne Coleman and Wanda White, parents of Brandie Coleman and Gregory Johnson, respectively, said after the sentencing that the two men’s pleas of innocence didn’t faze them.

“I feel justice was done, and they got the right people,” White said.

“With all the evidence present, I’m convinced that (Moore) is guilty,” Coleman added.

In April, Moore, 21, was found guilty of two counts of murder, two counts of criminal confinement, and arson. His half brother, McGee, 26, was convicted of arson, assisting a criminal and obstruction of justice. Defense attorneys blamed a third man for the killing. Prosecutors maintain they got the right men.

“They know what they did. Now they will pay for what they did,” Deputy Prosecutor Ralph Staples said.

Related posts:

17-year-old Indianapolis Youth Killed Because She Was Trans

More on The Murdered Indianapolis Trans Teen

Nireah Johnson and Brandie Coleman

Continue ReadingTwo Indianapolis men sentenced for killing trans teen, friend

More on The Murdered Indianapolis Trans Teen

From the Indy Star:

An initial hearing in the case of the teen’s murder was held for an Indianapolis man who has been arrested for the murder of Gregory Johnson and his friend Brandie Coleman. According to the hearing, the gun belonging to Paul Anthony Moore, 20, was matched to the bullets that killed the two teens.

See my previous post on Nireah Johnson.

It appears that Nireah Johnson is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in section 73, lot 509 under the name “GREGORY M. JOHNSON”

Brandie Coleman’s Obituary:

Brandie Michelle Coleman, 18, Indianapolis, died July 23, 2003. She was born March 29, 1985. She was a considerate, kindhearted, and very happy person. She was also a good singer. Brandie was a new mother. She formerly attended Northwest High School and was attending Goodwill Industries where she was working on her GED. Brandie was a member of the Church of the Living God Temple #2. Brandie was preceded in death by her father, Walter “Duke” Coleman; and grandmother, Alice Coleman. Brandie will be greatly missed by her 2 month old daughter, Brakayla; mother, Mary Ann Coleman; grandparents, George (Barbara) Coleman and Carl & Ruth Wildman; sisters Robyn Foisy and Jennifer Coleman; brother, Jason Coleman; and a host of other relatives and friends. Visitation will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Tue., July 29 at Stuart Mortuary immediately followed by Interment: New Crown Cemetery. Brandie’s death was tragic loss and during this difficult time we are leaning to The Lord Jesus for the strength that we know only he can give.

Published in the The Indianapolis Star on July 29, 2003

Related posts:

17-year-old Indianapolis Youth Killed Because She Was Trans

Two Indianapolis men sentenced for killing trans teen, friend

Nireah Johnson and Brandie Coleman

Continue ReadingMore on The Murdered Indianapolis Trans Teen

17-year-old Indianapolis Youth Killed Because She Was Trans

From the Indianapolis Star:

Gregory Johnson and his friend Brandie Coleman were killed and left in an SUV set on fire in the 6700 block of Fall Creek Parkway, North Drive. Johnson, they say, was a sweet and funny young man who liked to dress as a woman, fooling his dates. They suspect one of them became enraged upon learning the truth and killed Johnson and his female friend.

They were murdered by Paul Moore and Curtis Ward, and they enlisted Paul’s half-brother, Clarence McGee to help cover up their deaths.

What’s scary is that this article in the Indianapolis Star seems to blame Nireah, not the killers, for her death. Just because you’re upset that someone fooled you does not give you the right to kill them and their friends.

Related posts:

More on The Murdered Indianapolis Trans Teen

Two Indianapolis men sentenced for killing trans teen, friend

Nireah Johnson and Brandie Coleman

Continue Reading17-year-old Indianapolis Youth Killed Because She Was Trans