Ashley Burton was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound at City Park Apartments.
“I just want justice for my cousin,” she continued. “I’m tired of these incidents with transgender women being pushed under the rug. We are human beings.”
According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), of all the trans men and women killed in 2022, 85 per cent were people of colour.
In a report entitled An Epidemic of Violence 2022, the HRC found that 69 per cent of victims of trans killings reported in the US were Black, while 85 per cent of victims identified as trans women.
Early on Tuesday morning, according to police, Burton’s body was found outside in a breezeway near her home at the Elite at City Park Apartments, as the Georgia Voice reported. Police reports state that Burton was shot inside her apartment, then fled outside, where she collapsed and was killed.
“She was a very sweet young lady,” Burton’s best friend told local FOX affiliate WAGA. “She was very full of life really. It was always smiles and laughs with us whenever we work together.”
Historically, the majority of hate crimes towards trans people usually occur against trans people of colour, with reports from 2021 suggesting a similar trend.
This year is turning out to be no different: four of the eight reported murders the HRC has tracked involve Black trans women, not including Burton.
The 26-year-old environmental activist was “a trained medic, a loving partner, a dear friend, a brave soul, and so much more.”
“Why her?” Carter asked, rhetorically, in an interview with news station 11 Alive. “Why would it be somebody who’s trying to better herself, who’s trying to do right by people, who’s trying to help?” Carter told reporters that whoever killed Burton also took her cell phone, and believes that the killer was someone Burton knew and trusted.
“This got to be personal,” Carter said. “You shot her in her house, then you followed her outside and shot her.”
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