39-year old Yunieski Carey Herrera, also known as Yuni Carey, is the 37th trans person to have been murdered in the US this year after she was stabbed in Miami, Florida on Tuesday November 17. The cuban-born trans woman, who was a model, salsa dancer and local activist, was reportedly killed in an apartment complex by her partner, 27-year-old Ygor Arrudasouza. He called 911 and confessed to stabbing Herrera while under the influence of meth. He also had a history of violence and was arrested on battery charges earlier this year.
Arrudasouza has been arrested and told police officers he “deserves the punishment that comes to him”. Tori Cooper, the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, said: “The loss of any transgender or gender non-conforming person is a tragedy, and Yuni’s death is no exception. The fact that she was killed during Transgender Awareness Week only makes this loss hurt more…Yuni’s life was taken by a man who identified as her husband.”
She continued: “If we cannot trust the people that we know, who can we trust? It’s critical that everyone — allies, friends, family, community organizers and elected officials — take action to end this violence and protect trans and gender non-conforming people. We must stop the stigma that the trans and gender non-conforming community so often faces. This violence must end.”
2020 has been a record year for anti-trans violence in the US and on an international scale. President Joe Biden tweeted on the Trans Day of Remembrance, describing the situation as ‘intolerable’ and saying: “This Transgender Day of Remembrance, we honor their lives—and recommit to the work that remains to end this epidemic of violence.” He also vowed to fight for the ‘safety and dignity’ of the US trans community.
