Kiki Fantroy Is 13th Black Trans Woman Reportedly Murdered in 2019

She is the 11th to die from gun violence.

Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

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Mikelle Street

August 05 2019 10:05 AM EST

MikelleStreet

According to the Miami-Dade Police Department, Kiki Fantroy was murdered on Wednesday morning. While they do not believe the murder was a hate crime, Fantroy's mother has publicly speculated that she was targeted because of her gender identity. Fantroy's sister is reportedly also skeptical about this news.

According to the Miami Herald, Fantroy was killed during an argument and found near an abandoned home. Her mother says she was returning home from a party with friends when this happened. Police have since distributed fliers and the local Crime Stoppers is offering $3,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer. Police have said that there was a group of people nearby the shooting.

"Last night when I read the story, it broke my heart. I actually was in tears," Sahfari Ebony, of the League of Extraordinary Transgender Women told Local 10. That organization provides resources to Black trans women in South Florida.

"To see that one of my trans sisters has been killed and the killer is still out there and they can't find them, anybody could be next."

In local reports, Fantroy was deadnamed, which speaks to an ongoing structural issue with coverage of news surrounding trans people. Deadnaming and misgendering in news reports is not only transphobic and insensitive, but likely means that statistics surrounding trans people and the violence against them may be inaccurate.

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Fantroy reportedly loved music and doing hair. Though she was only 21, she began her transition over a decade ago. Since then she has suffered bashings and bullying.

A celebration will be held in the memory of Fantroy on Wednesday, August 7 in Miami. Organized by The League, the event will take place at 6PM at Pridelines. The theme is "Take Back The Night: A celebration of the power and strength of Black trans women."

"We stand with our Black trans sisters and stand ready to take action under the leadership and guidance of the local trans community," the Alliance for GLBTQ Youth wrote in a Facebook post about the news.