Philly Police Advisory Commission To Subpoena Records In Nizah Morris Case

Interesting news coming out of Philadelphia.   According to the Philadelphia Gay News, the Police Advisory Commission has voted to subpoena the records on the Morris case from the District Attorney's office.  

Nizah Morris was  an African American transwoman who accepted a courtesy ride from the Philadelphia Police Department home from a downtown bar but instead was found bleeding from a head wound that she died from on Christmas Eve 2002.     There has never been a satisfactory explanation to people in the Philadelphia TBLG community as to what happened to Morris and leaders in the community are pleased with the PAC vote.

Kathleen Padilla said in the PGN interview, “I applaud the commissioners’ commitment to ensuring their review includes all available information in this very murky case. I’m disappointed the DA chose to force the PAC to subpoena records that are required to perform their oversight responsibilities.”

We can only hope that those DA records finally shed light on what really happened to Nizah that evening.

Stacey Blahnik Case Update

Monday marked the six month anniversary of the death of Stacey Blahnik, the beloved house mother of the House of Blahnik in Philadelphia.    There have been some developments in the case that go beyond the Philadelphia media starting to read the AP Stylebook when reporting on her case.

The Philadelphia Gay News reports that police have identified a person of interest in Blahnik’s murder. Homicide Capt. James Clark said details about the individual could not be made public, but Clark said an arrest is within sight.

“As of lately, we have developed a person of interest and we’re continuing down that path right now to hopefully make an arrest in the near future,” Clark said.

The Philadelphia trans community, Blahnik's family and all who loved and admired her are hoping that the waste of DNA who committed this heinous crime will be arrested soon enough and justice will prevail in this case.  

 

'Photos Of Angie' Debuts At Denver Film Festival

Angie Zapata was brutally taken away from us three years ago, but her brief life and the people she touched during that time will live on.   

A documentary produced by Denver based filmmakers Alan and David Dominguez premiered last night at the 13th XicanIndie Film Festival in Denver.  

The film, 'Photos of Angie' moves between Angie’s life and self-discovery told through family and friends, to the trial of her killer, Allen Andrade, and how prosecutors used national hate crime legislation to prosecute him in 2009.

“Many aspects of this story struck me — Angie’s struggle to discover who she was and her courage to do right by herself, the fact that human sexuality is not nearly as neatly packaged as we like to think, and how common anti-transgender violence is,” said director Alan Dominguez in a news release. “Angie’s family took me on a very personal journey through their lives, and it led me to realize that only through compassion and understanding, all of us have to work together to write the end of the story — to create a world governed by freedom to be who we are, without fear.”

The Dominguez brothers through their Denver based production company called Loco Lane Filmworks shows films in festivals throughout the United States and Latin America.

Hopefully I'll get to see 'Photos Of Angie' at one near me soon.

Black Transwoman Killed In Arkansas-Disrespected By Media

A long, tired pattern has once again reared its ugly head.. Black transwoman gets murdered.  Media misgenders Black transperson and we have to raise hell as media outlets drag feet on correcting the story.

Before I get started ranting about the latest example of media peeps misgendering transpeople, let's review on this blog for the umpteenth time what he AP Stylebook has to say about covering trans people.

transgender-Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth.   

If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.

This time it's a Memphis, TN station and several others covering the murder and dragging of M Tye in Forrest City, AR.


Since the indications from people they interviewed who knew the victim was that Ms Tye lived 24/7/365 as female, that would be one major clue you are dealing with a transperson, would it not?

If we mere bloggers can read the AP Stylebook and ask more detailed questions when we get clued in that this person may be trans, what's the excuse for professional media outlets?

.

Myra Ical Alleged Murderer Arrested

I've been following the case of murdered Houston transwoman Myra Ical that happened before I moved back to town.

I was happy to find out while perusing the news last night that the waste of DNA who allegedly committed the crime was already locked up at the HPD Hilton.      

46 year old homeless man Lucky Ward was arrested in November and already charged in the strangulation death of 52 year old homeless woman Retia Faye Long.

It turned out that Ward had been busy on a serial killing spree.  His DNA connected him not only to the June murder of 24 year old Raquel Mundy, whose car broke down across the street from the Greyhound Bus Station downtown, but to another murdered homeless woman named Carol Flood.

Ward's DNA also links him to Myra Ical's murder and another Houston transwoman, 40 year old Gypsy Rodriguez who was found dead inside her north Houston home on September 13.    

Investigator: Suspect is a Serial Killer: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

So now that we hopefully have our man, it's time for the Harris County prosecutors to do their thang, prosecute alleged killer Lucky Ward.     Hopefully a jury will find him guilty and send his behind up I-45 to Huntsville for a long time 

Rest In Peace, Jennifer Gale

Two years ago today transwoman Jennifer Gale was found dead sleeping on an Austin sidewalk outside a homeless shelter run by the Salvation Army.  (one reason why I refuse to donate money or used clothing to them). 

The reason she was outside on the sidewalk instead of inside the shelter is because they would not allow her to be housed with the women because of genitalia incongruent with her gender presentation. .   She would have been foced by their policies to be housed with cisgender men.

Austin was in the grip of unseasonable cold in 2008, and the postulation by EMT's is the near freezing temperatures helped trigger the heart attack that killed her.

Jennifer made multiple runs for political office in the area and was a frequent presence at Austin City Council meetings.  The night before she died,  Jennifer attended and spoke at an Austin city council hearing in which she sang 'Silent Night' to the assembled members before departing.

In honor of the second anniversary of her death, the Austin City Council at last night's meeting played the video (Jennifer's section of it starts at the 1:20 mark) from that fateful evening. They also dedicated in her memory a seat in the city council auditorium with a plaque bearing her name attached to it.

Jennifer's death also had an impact on a shelter up I-35 in Dallas.   The Bridge changed their policies in order to base their housing and intake decisions on the person's gender presentation irregardless of genitalia configurations.


Rest in peace, Jennifer.  You are not forgotten, nor will your trans brothers and sisters and all you loved and cared about you allow people to forget how you died.   We'll also bust our behinds to ensure that this doesn't happen to a transperson ever again.