A Jacksonville woman was the second transgender person to be killed within a 48-hour-period last week.
The Advocate reports 36-year-old Celine Walker was fatally shot last week. When authorities discovered her at a room at the Extended Stay America hotel on Feb. 4, she’d already been dead. Police and local media initially misgendered Walker in reports and used her birth name. When her friends called local police they do not recognize transgender individuals. The misgendering may have led to a delay in the investigation of her homicide. It also postponed national reports which would recognize Walker as the fourth known transgender person to be killed in 2018.
Walker was killed just two days after 35-year-old Tonya Harvey, who was also transgender, was found dead. In 2017, there were 27 reported killings of transgender individuals.
