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NCAVP mourns the death of Brayla Stone, a 17-year-old Black transgender woman, whose death is being investigated as a homicide by local police in Arkansas. Brayla’s body was found in a car near a walking path in the Little Rock suburb of Sherwood on June 25th. Media reports that a person on social media later claimed he was paid five thousand dollars to kill her, but the posts have since been taken down. Local groups held a candle-light vigil for Brayla, at Boyle Park in Little Rock, to celebrate her life and call for attention to her death, and a Change.org petition already has over 200,000 signatures. As too often happens, Brayla was misgendered and deadnamed in the media, and so news of her death was not given due attention.
David Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said in a statement. “Brayla Stone was seventeen years young when someone murdered her because we live in a society where it is not yet explicit that when we say BlackLivesMatter we mean all Black lives, which includes Black trans women and girls.”
NCAVP stands in solidarity with Black trans women, and we know that it is always hard to read these reports of violence against our communities. We know this can be even more painful when there continues to be an unchecked epidemic of homicides of Black trans women, as police violence is escalating against Black and brown people, and our nation continues to be grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic that highlights long standing healthcare disparities for Black and brown communities. If you need support in these difficult times, you can always reach out to your local NCAVP member. If you or someone you know is experiencing violence, you can reach our free bilingual national hotline at 212-714-1141 or report online for support.
NCAVP works to prevent, respond to, and end all forms of violence against and within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and HIV-affected communities. NCAVP is a national coalition of local member programs and affiliate organizations who create systemic and social change. NCAVP is a program of the New York City Anti-Violence Project.