A 26-year-old Black transgender woman, Zachee Imanitwitaho, was shot and killed last Friday just outside her workplace in Louisville, KY. Zachee, who had immigrated from Rwanda in 2019, was an employee at the JBS meat-processing plant in the city. A 58-year-old coworker, Edilberto Lores-Reyes, has been charged with her murder.
According to an anonymous coworker, Zachee was well-liked and had a bright personality. The motive for the crime is unknown, but her coworker believes she was targeted for being transgender. Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, a group that tracks violence against trans Americans, criticized local officials for their handling of the news, stating they made a “spectacle” of Zachee’s gender identity after her death.
Zachee’s family has set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for her funeral expenses. She is at least the fifth transgender, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming person to die by violence in the U.S. this year.