The first murder victim of the year in Buffalo was identified as a man by police. In reality she was a transgender woman named Tonya Harvey (also known to friends as Kita). She was shot to death late Tuesday afternoon.
Officials in the Erie County District Attorney’s office are extremely concerned about a spike in homicides of transgender people across the country and will be, as part of this investigation, looking into whether or not this is a potential hate crime.
--spokeswoman
Buffalo police say they have some "possible leads."
The hatred, the bigotry, and the aggressive attacks on trans people is almost an everyday occurrence in our lives.
The murderer is still out there somewhere.
--Buffalo trans activist Ari Moore
There is a very real epidemic of violence targeting the transgender community, particularly those who live at the intersection of transphobia, racism, and misogyny. The Pride Center remains steadfast in our mission of working with the community to make [western New York] a safe place for LGBTQ people and to combat trans misogyny.
--Damian Mordecai, Pride Center of Western New York
Harvey is the fourth known American transgender woman to be murdered in 2018, following Brandi Seals in Houston and Viccky Gutierrez, who was burned to death in Los Angeles. They were all women of color. Also killed in January was trans activist Christa Leigh Steele-Knudslien, who was believed to be murdered by her husband in North Adams, Massachusetts.