For the ;second time this month, a black transgender woman has been killed. Authorities ;in ;Montgomery Village, Maryland, are investigating the killing of Zella Ziona as a hate crime, according to NBC Washington. ; “We are not ruling out the possibility that this could be hate-based,” Montgomery County police spokesman Capt. Paul Starks told the station. ; The 21-year-old victim ;was found in an alley Thursday night after being shot in the head. She was taken to the hospital, where she later died. SHE HAS A NAME: Zella Ziona, killed last night in Gaithersburg, MD. She is 21st transgender woman killed this year. pic.twitter.com/eTMdqwXjik October 16, 2015 A witness to the killing told WJLA he heard four to five gunshots ;following…
For the ;second time this month, a black transgender woman has been killed.
Authorities ;in ;Montgomery Village, Maryland, are investigating the killing of Zella Ziona as a hate crime, according to NBC Washington. ;
“We are not ruling out the possibility that this could be hate-based,” Montgomery County police spokesman Capt. Paul Starks told the station. ;
The 21-year-old victim ;was found in an alley Thursday night after being shot in the head. She was taken to the hospital, where she later died.
A witness to the killing told WJLA he heard four to five gunshots ;following an argument between Ziona and ;a group of teenagers.
“They argued and things happened so fast,” the witness, who didn’t want ;to be named, told the station. “I don’t know what they argued for.”
Ziona is one of at least 21 transgender women who have been killed in the U.S. this year, according to The Advocate. The actual number may be much higher, as family members of a victim may not report to police or media that ;the individual was trans. At least 17 of the 21 victims this year, including Ziona, were women of color.
“It’s tragic,” Rock Clarkson, who was in the area where ;Ziona was ;killed, told WJLA. “Senseless violence is something none of us wants to live around.”
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Black Trans Woman Fatally Shot In Head In Suspected Hate Crime
