CRIME
Latinx Trans Woman
Shot in Dallas
Bigot hurled anti-LGBTQ slurs at victim
Domingo Ramirez-Cavente, 29, was arrested and admitted to shooting a transgender woman, 35-yearold
Rony Calderon, multiple times in a transphobic tirade in Dallas.
BY MATT TRACY
A horrifi c scene unfolded
in Dallas on September
20 when a bigot harassed
a Latinx transgender
woman with anti-LGBTQ
slurs and shot her multiple times,
according to police.
The bloody incident started
shortly after 11 p.m. on a Friday
evening when the man, now identifi
ed by authorities as 29-yearold
Domingo Ramirez-Cavente,
drove his red Chevrolet truck near
35-year-old Rony Calderon and
started “speaking derogatorily of
gay and transgender people,” according
to Dallas police.
Shaken up, Calderon then started
walking away from Ramirrez-
Cavente and waited at a bus stop
— but the perpetrator wasn’t fi nished.
Cops said the bigot drove his
truck onto a curb near the woman,
whipped out a handgun, and shot
her in the chest and arm.
Calderon miraculously survived
after she was rushed to a local hospital
and underwent surgery, but
Ramirez-Cavente remained on the
loose for four days. That was partly
because her gunshot wounds crippled
her health to the point where
she was unable to speak to detectives
until September 23.
After meeting with Calderon and
poring through surveillance video
footage, authorities fi nally tracked
down Ramirez-Cavente and busted
DALLAS POLICE
him. He was initially arrested
for multiple traffi c violations, but
he later admitted to cops that the
story was indeed true — that he
shot the victim at the bus stop. He
was ultimately charged with second
degree aggravated assault, a
felony, but authorities say they are
currently investigating the case as
a hate crime.
Texas has been a particularly
dangerous hotbed of violence
against trans women of color
this year. In Dallas, 23-year-old
Muhlaysia Booker was shot to
death in May, while 26-year-old
Chynal Lindsey was found dead in
a Dallas lake in June in what police
termed “homicidal violence.” Most
recently, 22-year-old Tracy Single
was found dead in Houston.
The trends in Texas are also
seen nationally during yet another
year of deadly violence against
trans women of color. According
to the Human Rights Campaign,
18 trans people — 17 black trans
women and one trans man — have
died violent deaths this year.
Other trans women of color have
perished while incarcerated. In
New York, Layleen Xtravaganza
Cubilette-Polanco was being held
in restrictive housing in June when
she died in her cell due to seizures
caused by epilepsy. Also in June,
Johana Medina of El Salvador died
in the hospital after enduring a
stint in the custody of Immigration
and Customs Enforcement.
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