Man Convicted of Murder of Trans Woman in Historic Hate Crime Verdict

A federal jury A South Carolina man was convicted Friday of killing an African-American transgender woman, marking the first conviction in a federal trial for a hate crime motivated by gender identity, according to authorities.

The jury declared unanimously Daqua Lameek Ritter Convicted of hate crime, firearms charge and obstruction in 2019 fatal shooting Call me DrA 24-year-old transgender woman made the announcement on Saturday, February 24 Department of Justice.

Ritter fascinated Dr In a remote area AllendaleSouth Carolina, and shot him three times in the head, prosecutors allege. Ritter He was enraged when he learned that rumors had spread in his community about a sexual relationship between him and her. Drand killed Dr Because of their gender identity, according to Department of Justice

.

Officials described the punishment as historic. Until the case of RitterNo federal hate crime case based on gender identity reached a guilty verdict at trial. Department of Justice. Ritter He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

“We want the African American trans community to know they are seen and heard, That we stand with the LGBTQI+ community and will use all available tools to seek justice for victims and their families,” declared the Deputy Attorney General of Department of Justice, Kristen ClarkeIn the department’s news release.

Joshua Kendricklawyer of Rittersaid The Washington Post who were disappointed with the verdict. He denied it Ritter Murder was committed and stated Inconsistency in charge in front of Ritter. “We are not going to stop working for our clients,” he said. Kendrick.

This Hate Crimes Prevention Act Matthew Sheppard and James Byrd Jr. A 2009 federal law criminalized acts of violence against people because of their religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or disability. The law, among other things, gave federal authorities more flexibility to prosecute hate crimes that local authorities chose not to prosecute, Southern Poverty Law Center

. But prosecutors did not pursue a case focused on the victim’s gender identity until several years after the law was enacted.

The first such case, even for the murder of a transsexual woman, did not go to trial: in 2016, a man Mississippi Confessed to the crime of murder Mercedes Williamson in 2015 because she was transgender. He was sentenced to 49 years in prison.

Dr She was found slumped over the steering wheel of her car with a gunshot wound in August 2019, police reported. Post and Courier. Institute for Social Justice Attachment for full acceptanceLocated in South Carolina, said at the time Dr She was the fourth black transgender woman murdered in the state in a two-year period, and the killings are called “State of Emergency.”

During the four-day trial of RitterProsecutors used witnesses and text messages to describe the secret relationship between the two Ritter And Dr Which became tense shortly before death Dr girlfriend of when Ritter

Another woman, found out about the affair and called Ritter With homophobic slurs, reported Associated Press.

Prosecutors also presented footage of a traffic stop hours earlier Dr She was found dead in a car that featured a matching tattoo Ritter in the vehicle with Dr.

Defense lawyers argued at trial that no physical evidence was pointed to Ritter as the murderer and questioned the credibility of the witnesses who made the claim Ritter According to him, had behaved strangely in the days following the murder Ap. Sentencing hearing Ritter To be decided at a later date.

(c) 2024, The Washington Post