Miami-Dade Police Investigating Violent Crime Against African American Trans Woman
Miami-Dade Police are investigating a violent, vicious, and fatal transphobic attack of an African-American woman assaulted in her apartment earlier this month.
Kimmy 'Icon' Braxton was 45 years old, a stylist, and very active in social media. On February 4, she was found dead inside her own home, located in a condominium in northeast Miami-Dade County. It was not until Monday that the police revealed what happened to the press and asked for information to solve the case. So far, authorities have no suspects or motives for the crime.
According to the police, Kimmy's mother and sister were worried about her and went to look for her at her apartment. When they had no answer, they called the police. When an officer managed to enter the home, Braxton was found dead. Although no details about the crime have been released, it is known that the victim was shot. "The family is grieving tremendously over the death and the manner in which this victim was killed," said Miami-Dade Police Detective Juan Segovia in a video posted on Twitter.
Police continue to interview neighbors and other condominium residents, asking for citizens' cooperation in identifying a "person of interest" who was recorded by video surveillance cameras around the home.
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Detectives seek to identify this person because they believe he may know something about the case and are offering a $5,000 reward for anyone who provides information leading to the capture of the killer.
Human Rights Campaign (HRC) mourned Braxton's death and said on its website that Kimmy was a valued member of her community who "did not deserve to have her life cut short."
Alexus Braxton, also known as Kimmy Icon Braxton, is one of at least six transgender people who have been killed in 2021, just two months into the year.
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) February 15, 2021
We cannot be silent as members of our community are killed. The violence needs to end. https://t.co/0jqWw6WIjg
"There is rarely any media coverage after the incident. Forty-four trans women were murdered last year, and most were black trans women," said Tatiana Williams, who is part of Braxton's extended family and is the executive director of the South Florida-based Inclusive Trans Group. "I'm a little concerned about the lack of urgency in the matter."
This marks the sixth attack of the year against the trans community in the U.S., according to a tally kept by the Human Rights Campaign. 2020, at the height of the global pandemic and confinement, was the most violent year for the LGBT community, recording 44 murders in the U.S., most of them of transgender women of African descent or Latinas.
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