*Muhlaysia Booker, 23, a transgender woman seen brutally attacked in a viral video last month was shot to death in Dallas over the weekend, ABC News reports.
Booker was found “lying face down” in the street early Saturday morning, and police said her death was the result of “homicidal violence,” not a hate crime.
“We recognize that hate crimes, if you will, are a serious topic,” Assistant Dallas Police Chief Avery Moore said at a press conference Sunday. “We at the Dallas Police Department take them serious.”
Last month, a video of Booker surfaced online of her brutal beating by several cowardly Black males in the parking lot of an apartment complex as a crowd cheered.
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Tomorrow I’m dedicating my entire episode of @TheBreakdown podcast to Muhlaysia Booker.
When we say #BlackLivesMatter we must live and fight for it to be mean ALL Black Lives.
The violence against trans folk, particularly Black trans folk, is a true epidemic in this country. pic.twitter.com/ZLujqagXuJ
— Shaun King (@shaunking) May 21, 2019
Booker told police that the incident occurred after a minor traffic accident, and that her attackers shouted homophobic slurs at her. Footage of the violence led to the arrest of 29-year-old Edward Thomas on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has since been released on bond, the report states.
Booker reportedly suffered a concussion and a fractured wrist in the attack.
“This has been a rough week for myself, the transgender community and also the city of Dallas,” Booker said an April press conference. “This time, I can stand before you … whereas in other scenarios, we are at a memorial.”
At this time, investigators say there is not enough information to say if her death is connected to the April attack.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said the video made him “extremely angry.”
“I am deeply saddened to learn of the murder of Muhlaysia Booker,” he said in a tweet on Sunday. “I call on anyone with information on this homicide to please contact the Dallas Police Department.”
So far, at least three transgender individuals have been violently killed in 2019, according to a statement from the Human Rights Campaign. Over two dozen trans people were killed in the U.S. in 2018, with black transgender women targeted the most, the organization said.
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