A mother in Newark, New Jersey, is demanding authorities reveal accurate details about the case of her daughter, a Black trans woman who was found dead on the street four months ago.
In a video interview with LGBTQ+ advocate Jasmin Singer, Starlet Carbin said police have been giving conflicting information about what happened to her daughter, Ashley Moore. The grieving mother said investigators initially said the 26-year-old died after a tragic fall in April.
There was another police report, according to Carbin, which stated Moore was hit by a car. The mother said the report said the impact left "ligature marks on Ashley's legs, and that Ashley's neck was grossly, grotesquely disfigured and swollen."
Carbin said she still hasn't received the medical examiner’s report but that the alleged injury doesn't make sense.
"The description that is in that police report is not that of someone who, number one, fell or was hit by a vehicle," said Carbin, who works as a traveling nurse. "It paints a picture of someone that was held down, tied down and possibly strangled. That's me, reading what I'm reading off of the police report."
The nurse, who mostly kept in touch with her daughter through social media, learned about the tragedy when she went to Moore's Facebook page to wish her a happy birthday and saw messages saying "Rest in peace."
"That's when I found out that my child had passed nine days prior to that," Carbin said.
The Newark LGBTQ Community Center has joined the mother in pursuing justice for Moore. The center urged police to look at footage from the area where Moore's body was found. After looking at surveillance video, investigators ruled out the possibility of a car accident, according to Carbin.
The center has also set up a GoFundMe campaign to hire a lawyer on Moore's behalf and to support LGBTQ+ victims of hate crimes.
"The Newark LGBTQ Center needs a legal fund for Ashley's case so that there's an investigation, and for the other cases that they deal with each day surrounding violent and inhumane acts pointed toward the LGBTQ community—especially trans women and men of color," the center stated.
Other advocates are using social media to amplify the call for justice.
#SayHerName Ashley Moore. Ashley Moore was a 26-year-old Black trans woman who was found dead on the streets in Newark, NJ in April 2020. She had strangled marks on her neck, but there was no police investigation.
You’ve probably never heard of her. https://t.co/Fv0vwCr0eD— Nala Simone (@Nalasimonet) August 7, 2020
At least 26 transgender or gender-nonconforming people have been killed this year, as Blavity previously reported. Aja Raquell Rhone-Spears, a Black trans woman, became one of the latest victims when she was stabbed at a vigil in Portland in July.
In the same week as the killing of Rhone-Spears, another transgender woman, Dior H. Ova, was stabbed to death. A day later, 24-year-old Queasha D. Hardy was shot and killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Marilyn Cazares, another transgender woman, was found dead in an abandoned building in the Southern California suburb of Brawley on July 13.
"These victims were killed by acquaintances, partners or strangers, some of whom have been arrested and charged, while others have yet to be identified," the Human Rights Campaign stated on its website. "Some of these cases involve clear anti-transgender bias. In others, the victim’s transgender status may have put them at risk in other ways, such as forcing them into unemployment, poverty, homelessness and/or survival sex work."
To help the Newark LGBTQ Community Center raise money for a lawyer, click here.
