Charlotte is among the worst cities in violence against trans women

Driving the news: Jaida Peterson and Remy Fennell, both Black transgender women, were shot and killed days apart from one another under similar circumstances in Charlotte area hotels this April. Two suspects were arrested on Friday and charged with the women’s murders.

• Both women were identified as sex workers by CMPD.

“The loss of two Black transgender women in the last two weeks, in the same city, is devastating,” Tori Cooper, Human Rights Campaign‘s director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative said in a statement.

Zoom out: Black transgender women are disproportionately the victims of fatal violence, according to the HRC.

Last year, HRC recorded 44 deaths of transgender and gender non-conforming people, more than in any year since the group began tracking this violence in 2013.

The two Charlotte women are among at least 15 transgender or gender nonconforming people to be killed so far in 2021, per the HRC.

Yes, but: These numbers likely underrepresent the true rate of violence against transgender people because, the HRC reports, “Some victims’ deaths may go unreported, while others may not be identified as transgender or gender non-conforming …”

Charlotte is one the worst cities in the country when it comes to fatal anti-trans violence, according to HRC’s annual reports.

In memoriam:

Jaida Peterson, a 29-year-old Florence, S.C. native, was found dead in a west Charlotte hotel on Easter morning. During a vigil, friends remembered Jaida as caring, laid back and as someone who always had a smile on her face.

• The Observer’s Devna Bose attended the vigil and wrote a feature on Peterson that’s worth your time.

Remy Fennell, who also went by Remy Kreations, was 28 when she was found fatally shot in a University City hotel on April 15. Remy was a hairstylist and a small business owner whose family described her as vibrant on Facebook.

Monika Diamond was 34 when she was killed in Charlotte on March 18, 2020. Monika was a business owner and event promoter, and she was active in the city’s LGBTQ community.

Bubba Walker was found dead in the rubble of a house fire when she was 55 in September of 2019. She was previously reported missing in July of 2019. Her death is still an open investigation.

• Friends described her as kind, sometimes reserved and fun to be around in this Observer story from 2019.

Sherrell Faulkner was known as a genuine and hilarious friend up to her death in late 2016 when she died from injuries sustained during an attack in Plaza Midwood.

• She was repeatedly misidentified and misgendered by police and local media following her death.

Derricka Banner of Lenoir, N.C., was visiting friends in Charlotte when she was shot and killed in September of 2017. She was 26. According to HRC, she had a playful spirit and was a go-getter.