Alejandra Leos was, by all accounts, a very kind woman.
This is how family friend Melisa Smith described her, with tears coming to her eyes:
You don't have a jacket? I'll give it to you. It was to the point where if you didn't have no place to sleep he would help you. Here, come lay on my couch. Don't worry. Don't worry. You can stay here.
Yeah, Smith has some pronoun problems, but that's not unusual.
On Friday night Alejandra was shot to death a few feet from her home as she was returning home on her bycicle.
Police identified her as a man, but family members say Alejandra lived her life as a woman.
He was a human being.
--Smith
Family members say she was being harassed by someone. They believed that is the person who shot her. Police officials will not say whether or not they are looking at this as a possible hate crime.
Her family and friends (who mostly don't speak English) say Alejandra lit up their lives.
Alejandro would say ‘if you don’t know Alejandra then you don’t know Memphis.'
A memorial with flowers, candles and photos has been erected at the site of the shooting.
A funeral has been scheduled for Leos on Wednesday between 5 and 8 pm at Hickory Hill Funeral Home. Family members ask those who wish to help with the expenses to contact the funeral home directly.