Cleveland woman is 14th transgender person killed in U.S. this year
54-year-old Keisha Wells was shot in the stomach and had her body dumped in a parking lot
A transgender woman in Cleveland was fatally shot and her body dumped in a parking lot, making her the 14th transgender person killed in the United States this year.
Keisha Wells, 54, was shot in the stomach after leaving a local bar, Cocktails, in the 9000 block of Detroit Avenue during the early morning hours of June 23. She was shot in the stomach, and found behind an apartment building on Detroit Avenue, near West 87th Street, around 7 a.m. that day.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11 bullet casings were found at the scene. Police also collected a leopard print shoe, a sweatshirt, and a wig. Wells had no ID on her person at the time, which delayed police in identifying her.
Wells is the seventh person killed in Cleveland in the last week, and the second transgender woman killed in the past two months.
James Butler, a 27-year-old homeless man, has been charged with complicity to aggravated murder, for assisting the man who killed Wells in moving her body from the man’s car to the parking lot where she was found.
After Butler helped the man clean his car, he told his mother about the crime, and she reported it to Cleveland police, according to court records. Neither Butler nor any other suspect has been taken into custody, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Phyllis Harris, the executive director of the Greater Cleveland LGBT Center, said news of Wells’ death has deeply affected others in the LGBTQ community.
“Every time this happens, it’s heartbreaking,” she told the Plain Dealer. “It’s important that people know the issues [transgender people] face so we can see less of this.”
Wells was mourned by friends and loved ones, who remembered her as someone who enjoyed fashion and decorating, and deeply loved her family.
“Everybody has a right to live the way that they choose to live, and their lives not be taken,” Regina Spicer, Wells’ aunt, told News 5 Cleveland. “We will definitely do what we can to make sure justice is served.”
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