A transgender woman was fatally shot on the South Side of Chicago this Christmas and was later misgendered by police, friends and family said.
Courtney “Eshay” Key was found late on Christmas night by police and was originally thought to be the victim of a hit-and-run, according to CBS Chicago. Upon further evaluation, police discovered the 25-year-old's gunshot wounds and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Over the weekend on Christmas to be exact, Real Eshay also known as Courtney Key was murdered in Chicago. Another transwoman murdered. At the young age of 25. The violence against us must stop. pic.twitter.com/TlXNwZzh0B
— Morgan Sherm (@morganLOOKS) December 28, 2020
Originally, authorities listed Key as a male "John Doe" to the chagrin of her family, who said she was misgendered and disrespected.
The law enforcement’s description of Key was dehumanizing and insulting, Beverly Ross, a longtime friend of Key, said.
“We are human. We are real. We’re tired of Chicago Police misgendering trans people, gender non-conforming people,” they said.
Ross said Key was full of a zeal for life and “she wanted to be something. She wanted to beat the odds.”
Chicago police continued to investigate Key’s death late Monday as a homicide, but have yet to issue a statement on the family’s concern that Key was killed in relation to a hate crime, CBS reports.
“I believe Eshay was targeted,” Ross said. “We need to get to the bottom of this because Black trans lives matter. We are not going anywhere.”
Key is estimated to be the 43rd transgender person killed in the country this year, the majority of which have been Black and Latinx transgender women, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
Tori Cooper, HRC's director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, said it is on us as a society to ensure the safety of transgender people.
“Eshay Key was a vibrant and beautiful woman who had a big heart and big dreams. Eshay did not deserve to have her life cut short — none of the transgender and gender non-conforming people killed this year deserved that,” Cooper said. “No one should face discrimination or violence because of who they are, what they wear, or how they look. To truly end the epidemic of violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people, we must work together to dismantle the stigma and bias that so many face. It will take all of us.”
On Dec. 13, Jaheim Pugh Jaheim Barbie, also referred to as Bella, was killed in a shooting after an early Christmas party where two other people were injured, HRC reports. The 19-year-old’s mother said they identified as both a man and a woman, which she believes caused the teenager to be targeted. The HRC lists Barbie as the 42nd transgender person to be killed in the U.S. this year.
“Jaheim Pugh Jaheim Barbie was just at the beginning of living life. Jaheim did not deserve to have that life cut short — none of the transgender and gender non-conforming people killed this year deserved that,” Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey, HRC's Alabama state director, said.
