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| Disaya Monaee Smith / Facebook |
At 4:00 am on Sept. 6 police responding to a report of gunfire at the Prestige Inn and Suites at 1335 E. Sibley Blvd found transgender woman Disaya Monaee Smith suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Smith was pronounced dead a little after 5 a.m. at Franciscan Health hospital in Hammond.
Detectives are investigating the incident, and no one was in custody as of Tuesday morning, Dolton Police Chief Robert Collins said.
Detectives are investigating the incident, and no one was in custody as of Tuesday morning, Dolton Police Chief Robert Collins said.
“We mourn the loss of Disaya Monaee Smith,” National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) Deputy Executive Director Victoria Kirby York said in a statement. “2021 is on track to be the deadliest year on record for transgender and non-binary people – and in Chicago, Disaya Monaee Smith’s killing marks the fourth transgender person to be murdered in the Chicago region this year alone. Illinois,
Dolton, and county police departments must do more to proactively prevent the continued loss of trans lives happening across their city,” said York.
It took a period of time to learn of her murder as the only news source to report on it, by no fault of their own, misgendered and deadnamed Smith.
It took a period of time to learn of her murder as the only news source to report on it, by no fault of their own, misgendered and deadnamed Smith.
The Remembering Our Dead project reports that Disaya Monaee Smith is the 6th person to be murdered in the Greater Chicago area and the 65th transgender person to have needlessly died in the US since Nov. 20, 2020, the last Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Public visitation will be held on Monday, September 13, 2021, from 3pm to 7pm at the Higgins Funeral Home.
A balloon release and vigil was held on September 8.
