Authorities are investigating the murder of Chynal Lindsey, a 26-year-old transgender woman whose body was found in Dallas, TX, on Saturday. Lindsey is the third transgender woman to be killed in the city since October 2018, which has raised fears about the uptick in violence against the trans community.
“We are concerned,” Dallas Police Chief U. Reneé Hall said in a press conference Monday. “We are actively and aggressively investigating this case, and we have reached out to our federal partners to assist in these efforts.”
Police have not made public the details surrounding Lindsey's death, such as the cause of death or whether there are any suspects. Her murder comes just two weeks after the death of 23-year-old Muhlaysia Booker, another Black transgender woman in Dallas. Booker made headlines after being attacked in a parking lot in April and was fatally shot on May 18. Her body was found less than a mile from where Lindsey's remains were recovered.
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Soon after Booker's death, authorities said the homicide may be connected to two other attacks against transgender women of color: that of Brittany White, 29, who was fatally shot last October in southeast Dallas, and the stabbing in March of an unnamed 26-year-old woman, who survived the assault.
Hall said it's still unclear whether Lindsey’s death is connected to the other cases. She added that there's no evidence yet on whether a single killer could be targeting transgender women of color in the area.
Transgender women, particularly those who are women of color, face disproportionately high levels of violence compared to the rest of the population, researchers say. At least 26 transgender people were killed in 2018, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Around 82% of the victims killed between January and November 2018 were women of color, HRC said. This year, at least six transgender women — Lindsey, Booker, Dana Martin, Ashanti Carmon, Claire Legato, and Michelle Simone — have been killed.
Those with information about Lindsey's death, including her last known whereabouts, should contact detective Erica King at 214-671-3684.