NCAVP mourns the death of Yunieski “Yuni” Carey Herrera, a 39-year-old Latinx transgender woman in Miami, FL

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NCAVP mourns the death of Yunieski “Yuni” Carey Herrera, a 39-year-old Latinx transgender woman who was fatally stabbed by her partner in Miami, FL on November 17. Her partner confessed the crime to authorities, and currently awaits trial – he admits to being under the influence of methamphetamines during the assault, and feels he “deserves the punishment that comes to him.”

Yuni was a well-known activist and performer, with worldwide acclaim as the winner of the Miss Trans Cuba beauty pageant, and later Miss Trans Global in 2019 in Barcelona. Several activists in the Miami area knew Yuni, describing her as “highly motivated,” and a “typical jovial and cheerful Cuban.” A local club owner, Alexis Fernández said Yuni was a performer who knew how to “captivate her audience.” Alexis owns the nightclub Azúcar, where Yuni was expected to make her return after an 8-month-leave due to the coronavirus pandemic. Alexis says the community loved Yuni.

“Besides being strikingly beautiful, she was kind and she was good and she cared as much about others as she would about herself … she was a very special person for many people,” says Yuni’s friend Raul Griffith.

Yuni’s death occurred just three days before the Trans Day of Remembrance.

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.