Back in January...January 22 to be exact....police found the body of Jasmine Sierra, a 52-year-oldtransgender woman of color, in an apartment in Bakersfield, CA. According to the police report, the body showed signs of trauma and foul play.
While police reportedly interviewed neighbors and witnesses about hearing gunshots and fighting, they won't release further specifics about the circumstances of Sierra’s death. Calls to Bakersfield police were not returned by press time.
Unfortunately, at the time the coroner and media identified Jasmine as a male and used her birth name, while asking "anyone with information helpful to the investigation to call police."
Because of the deadnaming, none of Jasmine's friends and acquaintances could help out because they didn't know she was dead.
Her friend of 30 years, Veronica Soto, is a transwoman.
I just cant believe how she passed away, it was horrible to hear what happened to her.
We live as a woman, as female. That's how we are. That's how we feel, mentally, emotionally, and that's how we identify ourselves.
--Soto
Soto has only just begun to mourn her friend.
I don't know who Robert Sierra is.
--Shantell Waldo, another close friend of Jasmine
Bakersfield Police Department Sergeant Gary Carruesco said in the state of California the coroner identifies the body and gender as well. He said even if a person was born a male and identified as a female, the department might not release that information especially if it is an ongoing investigation.
Waldo and Soto say they wish they could have given Jasmine a proper goodbye.
A vigil was held yesterday in front of the Bakersfield Police Department.
They looked at her driver's license and saw M and she became a man.
--Karen Adell Scot, TransCare
I just want to see that this sort of violence is put to an end.
--Audra Kilman
It needs to be justice for everyone, no matter who you are, because at the end of the day, we all bleed the same.
--Audra's mother, Barbara
She was a very loving, very kind, very forgiving, very generous, happy-go-lucky person.
There's somebody out there right now who's responsible for this and if you don't pay in this world, you will pay in the next. Jasmine will not be forgotten. This is not over yet.
--Ramona Sierra, Jasmine's sister
Jasmine is the fifth known transgender murder victim of this year.