Black Transgender Woman Burned To Death In Florida

Bee Love Slater, a black transgender woman, was found burned beyond recognition in a torched car. 

This incident provoked an outcry amongst activists, as it marks the 18th killing of transgender woman of colour in the United States over the past year alone.

Slater's death, whose body was found in a torched car in South Florida last week, is being investigated as a homicide and a possible hate crime. Her remains were so badly burned that it took investigators several days to identify her by dental records.

Officials say this is one of the most brutal killings the county has ever seen. Investigators said they had no suspects. “We can’t say it’s a hate crime yet because we don’t know what the motive was,” they announced. However, the victim’s relatives say she had been receiving threatening messages on Facebook in the days before she was killed. Slater had allegedly posted messages saying “she felt as if people were after her to attack and hurt her and that she wanted to leave the area,” the day she was murdered. 

Violence against the trans community reached an all-time high in 2017, according to a Human Rights Campaign report. In 2018, at least 26 transgender people were killed, the majority of them were trans women of colour. Since the murder of Bee Slater, LGBT+ activists and human rights organisations have been expressing their outrage, calling for justice over the multiple transgender killings and assaults that have been increasing in the United States.