CRIME
Black Trans Woman Found Dead in Texas Canal
Authorities are investigating the incident as a suspicious death
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
A 24-year-old Black transgender
woman was found dead in a canal
in Port Arthur, Texas, on March 18,
the Port Arthur Police Department
told Gay City News.
Aidelen Evans was a homeless woman from
Beaumont, Texas, which is approximately 20
miles from the canal in Port Arthur — at 3700
block of Savannah Avenue — where her body
was discovered, police said in a statement on
Facebook. Michael Hebert, an investigator with
the Port Arthur Police Department, said this
makes the investigation even more challenging
to solve.
“She was not from our city, so that puts us in
a different realm,” said Hebert, who noted that
authorities know many of the homeless individuals
in the area.
“We weren’t familiar with this individual at
all,” Hebert said.
He said the police have spoken with Beaumont
authorities and are trying to locate the
victims’ friends and possible enemies. So far,
police are investigating Evan’s death as “suspicious,”
FACEBOOK
Aidelen Evans, a Black transgender woman, was found dead in a
canal on March 18.
but they say it’s still too early to know
whether she was targeted because of her trans
status.
“We’re still in the preliminary phase of this
investigation,” Hebert said.
When Gay City News asked the department
to clarify the evidence suggesting that the incident
is “suspicious,” Herbert declined to release
that information, citing that it would be “detrimental”
to the case.
“It’s such a fl uid investigation right now,”
he said. “We are very cautious with the
things that we say and I also want to be
very sensitive to the family members of the
deceased.”
Evan’s family has been notifi ed about the
death and helped identify the body to authorities.
The department has not released information
about the victim’s injuries, and they
are still waiting for an autopsy report from the
state’s medical examiner. No arrests have been
made thus far, and no suspects have been identifi
ed.
Like many trans victims of violence, Evans
was misgendered by police and media outlets,
which advocates said delayed the community
from identifying her remains. When Gay City
News asked the authorities to respond to the
victim being misgendered in initial reports,
they declined to answer, citing a “multitude of
reasons why.”
Trans Woman Fatally Struck by Car in Los Angeles
Police is investigating the death of 26-year-old
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
A 26-year-old transgender woman of
color was struck and killed by a vehicle
on March 17 in Los Angeles,
California Highway Patrol told Gay
City News.
Rayanna Pardo was allegedly fl eeing a group
of harassers around 9:25 p.m. when she was
hit by a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse on southbound
Eastern Avenue, north of Fifth Street, according
to a press release from California Highway
Patrol spokesperson Gina Jojola. Authorities
said the victim was transported to Los Angeles
County Medical Center but later died from her
injuries.
Security footage obtained by CBS shows the
victim was struck by a car while people were
following her.
Pardo’s family told CBS their daughter was
allegedly fl eeing anti-trans harassers before her
death. California’s Highway Patrol is handling
the investigation. Jose Barrios, a patrol offi cer
FACEBOOK/RAYANNA PARDO
Rayanna Pardo was struck and killed by a vehicle after allegedly
fl eeing harassers.
for the agency, told Gay City News the department
is investigating the motive for the incident
but could not confi rm whether Pardo was targeted
for her trans status or if a group was following
her. No arrests have been made thus far
and no suspects have been identifi ed.
Now, the victim’s family urges the department
to investigate her death as a murder and hate
crime. Pardo’s family said she was often targeted
for being transgender. The family is seeking
answers on whether attackers intentionally
pushed her or if she ran into the street to escape
the group. On March 20, the community held a
candlelight vigil to honor the victim’s life.
“Everybody should just love everybody,” Armando
Rangel, Jr., the victim’s brother, said in
an interview with CBS. “At the end of the day,
that’s all we have is one another.”
Pardo is the twelfth known transgender person
to face a violent death in 2021. Others include
Diamond “Kyree” Sanders, a Black transgender
woman killed in Cincinnati on March 3;
Jenna Franks of North Carolina, Jeffrey “JJ”
Bright and Jasmine Cannady of Pennslyvania;
Chyna Carrillo, a Latinx trans woman killed
on February 18; Tyianna Alexander of Chicago,
Samuel Edmund Damián Valentín of Puerto
Rico, Bianca “Muffi n” Bankz of Atlanta, Dominique
Jackson of Mississippi, Fifty Bandz of
Louisiana, and Alexus Braxton of Miami.
APRIL 8 - APRIL 21, 2 20 021 | GayCityNews.com
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