Skylar Heath, 20, is the 40th known trans person to have been murdered in the US this year after she was killed on November 4 in Miami, Florida; her death has only recently been publicly confirmed. According to Planet Transgender, Heath was found dead in the city’s Liberty City neighbourhood as a result of gunshot wounds. Her death has only recently been reported as she was misgendered and deadnamed in an obituary. The incident is being investigated as a homicide but it is unclear if it is being treated as a hate crime, as the Miami-Dade County police have not released any further information.
Heath, who was laid to rest on November 21, was described as a “kind and gentle soul” who “loved people in general.” Tori Cooper, the director of community engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initiative, said in a statement: “In November alone, at least four transgender women of colour have been killed in this country. This reflects a horrific rate of violence that the transgender and gender non-conforming community, especially Black transgender women, is facing this year.”
She continued: “We are mourning Skylar’s loss along with her friends and family. Skylar was just at the beginning of her life, and she did not deserve to have that life cut short. None of the trans and gender non-conforming people who have been killed this year deserved to have their lives taken from them. We must continue to affirm that Black Trans Lives Matter and take action to end the devastating violence against transgender and gender non-conforming people.”
2020 has been the deadliest year on record for trans Americans, and the violence has disproportionately affected black trans women such as Heath, and Chae’Meshia Simms who was found dead at the end of November. A new report by Everytown for Gun Safety, an American gun control advocacy organisation, also found 3 out of 4 trans and gender diverse people murdered in 2020 were victims of gun violence.
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