A horrific scene unfolded in Dallas on September 20 when a bigot harassed a Latinx transgender woman with anti-LGBTQ slurs and shot her multiple times, according to police.
The bloody incident started shortly after 11 p.m. on a Friday evening when the man, now identified by authorities as 29-year-old Domingo Ramirez-Cavente, drove his red Chevrolet truck near 35-year-old Rony Calderon and started “speaking derogatorily of gay and transgender people,” according to Dallas police.
Clearly shaken up, Calderon then started walking away from Ramirrez-Cavente and waited at a bus stop — but the perpetrator wasn’t finished. Cops said the bigot drove his truck onto a curb near the woman, whipped out a handgun, and shot her in the chest and arm.
Calderon miraculously survived after she was rushed to a local hospital and underwent surgery, but Ramirez-Cavente remained on the loose for the next four days. That was partly because her gunshot wounds crippled her health to the point where she was unable to speak to detectives until September 23.
After meeting with Calderon and poring through surveillance video footage, authorities finally tracked down Ramirez-Cavente and busted him. He was initially arrested for multiple traffic violations, but he later admitted to cops that the story was indeed true — that he shot the victim at the bus stop. He was ultimately charged with second-degree aggravated assault, a felony, but authorities say they are currently investigating the case as a hate crime.
Texas has been a particularly dangerous hotbed of violence against transgender women of color this year. In Dallas alone, 23-year-old Muhlaysia Booker was shot to death in May, while 26-year-old Chynal Lindsey was found dead in a Dallas lake in June as the result of what police termed “homicidal violence.” Most recently, 22-year-old Tracy Single was found dead on the ground at a gas station in Houston.
The trends in Texas are also seen nationally during yet another year of deadly violence against transgender women of color. According to the Human Rights Campaign, which tracks violent deaths of trans women, 18 trans people —17 black trans women and one trans man — have died violent deaths this year.
Other trans women of color have perished while incarcerated. In New York City, Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco was being held in restrictive housing in June when she died in her cell due to seizures caused by epilepsy. Also in June, Johana Medina of El Salvador died in the hospital after enduring a stint in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
