22-Year-Old Black Transgender Woman Merci Mack Fatally Shot In Dallas
Police are investigating after Merci Mack, a 22-year-old black transgender woman, was fatally shot at an East Oak Cliff apartment complex in Dallas, Texas on Tuesday. Mack’s murder is the nineteenth transgender killing this year, and fourth black trans killing during the month of Pride.
After hearing gunshots around 5 a.m., a witness later found Mack unconscious in a parking lot with a gunshot wound to the head and alerted authorities. Local police say there are no reported eyewitnesses to the murder and they have yet to name a suspect. An investigation is ongoing.
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Speaking on Mack’s murder, Tori Cooper, Human Rights Campaign director of community engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative, stated, “Another Black transgender woman has had her life stolen from her. We cannot become numb to the fact that our community has learned of more killings of transgender and gender non-conforming people in the past few weeks than HRC has ever tracked in the past seven years. Her friends say that Merci Mack was a young, upbeat soul who deserved to experience a full life. HRC is mourning with Merci’s loved ones and are calling for a full, thorough investigation into her death.”