An 18-year-old Black transgender woman named Cameron Jamal Miikquise Thompson was shot to death in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Monday. Police have arrested an unnamed underage suspect and charged him with murder as an adult. Thompson’s family suspects her murder was a hate crime, and police suspect it may have to do with comments she made about her suspected killer.
Thompson left their home around midnight last Monday, but around noon, her mother noticed that she had only taken her phone, leaving her purse and other personal items in her room. Her mother tried calling but Thompson’s phone went to voicemail.
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“That wasn’t like her to leave her belongings,’’ Thompson’s aunt, Tara Matthews, told AL.com.
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Around 4 p.m., Thompson’s family called the police to report that she was missing. Police informed them that they had found a body a few hours earlier. Thompson’s later mother identified the body as her daughter’s.
Police say she had been shot several times in the early morning hours. Nearby residents reported seeing her body in the yard of a home near the eastern edge of the city’s 35th.
The city’s crimes unit said the motive appears related to comments Thompson may have posted on social media regarding the suspect’s sexual orientation, WBMA reported.
The murder marks the 20th homicide investigated in Tuscaloosa this year, an all-time annual high, The Tuscaloosa Thread reported. The homicide also marks the 27th in the county this year. Thompson is suspected to be at least the 31st trans or gender non-conforming murder victim this year.
“She was a very sweet person, very nice person, never met a stranger,’’ said her aunt, Tara Matthews. “She loved hair and nails…. She was very quiet, very to herself, always very private,” she added, noting that she was beloved by her family and friends.
Thomson had recently graduated from Job Corps, a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young people. She worked at United Parcel Service (UPS). Another of Thompson’s aunts, Tara Maneice, wrote on a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign, “My sister does not have a life insurance policy in place, so I’m asking for any assistance to give a proper burial.”
Thompson’s funeral service will be held on January 3, 2025. The crowdfunding campaign has raised $4,282 of its $4,500 goal as of Thursday evening.
Young Black trans southerners disproportionately face gun violence
In 2023, there were 35 homicides of transgender or gender-expansive people, according to the group Everytown for Gun Safety. Of these, 80% were murdered with a gun. In 2023, 50% of gun homicides were of Black trans women.
“At least 19% of violent deaths of trans people were at the hands of an intimate partner or family member. 68% of these deaths were with a gun,” the group wrote on its website.
The group also noted that 44% of homicides of transgender and gender-expansive people that occurred between 2017 and 2023 happened in the South. Approximately 34% of gun homicides of transgender and gender-expansive people remain unsolved, and 57% of victims were under the age of 30.
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