The local community held a vigil at Washington Square Park on April 14 to remember Dominique Lucious, a Black transgender woman who was killed in Missouri, and Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man who was shot and killed by a police officer in Minnesota.
Organizers behind the event included leaders of the Stonewall Protests, Warriors in the Garden, Black Women’s March, Strategy for Black Lives, and Freedom March NYC.
Lucious, 26, was killed in Springfield, where she was shot at an apartment early in the morning on April 8. A 28-year-old man, Charles Nelson, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action, according to the Springfield News-Leader. Lucious died just days after a 29-year-old Black transgender woman, Jaida Peterson, was killed at a hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The GLO Center, a Springfield-based LGBTQ organization, condemned Lucious’ death in a Facebook post.
“Trans women, particularly trans women of color, are disproportionately victims of violent crime,” the group said in a Facebook post. “This murder and the other senseless slaying of trans folks must be contextualized within the anti-trans rhetoric and actions taken by too many. It is 2021 and we must understand that trans rights are human rights. Rest In Peace, Dominique Lucious.”
Wright was killed by police officer Kimberly Potter, who shot him directly in the chest and was later charged with second-degree manslaughter. The case, along with other police killings — including the March 29 shooting in Chicago of a 13-year-old boy, Adam Toledo — have sparked fresh outrage across the nation.
