It is never comforting to report a murder, especially murders that are brought about by pure hate as in the case of the 8th Trans Woman to die in 2018, and this one hits close to home. Sasha Wall, 29, was discovered thirty miles from my families home in Pageland, South Carolina on Sunday, April 1st, in a rural outpost of Charlotte NC, filled with bigotry, discrimination, with antiquated ideas on individuality.
Twenty-nine-year-old Sasha was discovered slumped over the wheel of her car, and police said that the car was parked on the road, left running for nearly two hours, as unknowing motorist drove past. This sadly makes Wall, the eighth known transgender person killed this year in America alone. Also, as we’ve witnessed on too many occasions Trans victims are misgendered by local media. Even worse, the leading state newspaper, The State¹, continue to ignorantly deadname transgender victims, as they did in the case of Sasha Wells.
Her body was discovered around 8:30 a.m., Sunday, and Police noted that she had been shot multiple times in the neck and shoulder. Leading investigators to determine the murder was of an extremely violent nature.
“Whoever it was, was angry,” Sheriff Jay Brooks told the FOX 46. “You could tell by the number of shots.”
Brooks added he believed Wall “knew who this was and it was between the two of them.”
Sheriff Brooks also told WSOC-TV that whoever killed her was “either sitting in the passenger seat or standing outside the car with the car door open.”
One small caliber bullet was recovered from the driver’s door.
Her family also believes the situation to have been domestic in nature. Officials have said they are unsure if Wall’s gender identity was a motivation for the crime.
James Robert Lee, an ex-boyfriend, said he had spoken with her the day before her death and that nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
“It was just a normal conversation, she didn’t say anything was wrong,” he told WSOC-TV. “She didn’t give off any vibe that anything was wrong.”
Investigators said Wall lived in a mobile home outside Pageland, where she was last seen around 3 a.m. the morning she died. They are looking to speak with anyone who was with her on that morning, before her passing.
Anyone with information regarding Wall’s death is asked to call investigators at 843-623-2101².
Her Facebook account lists Charlotte and Atlanta as other cities in which she has lived, and her occupation as an employee on the line at multinational food company Pilgrim’s Pride.
She is being remembered on social media as a warm and friendly person, with calls for justice from the Trans community.
Last year, The Trans People of Color Coalition³, released a report documenting the senseless acts of violence that made 2017 the deadliest year on record for transgender people, especially trans people of color.
Late last month, Amia Tyrae Berryman, 28, was shot and killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Just over a month ago, in late February, 46-year-old Phylicia Mitchell was also shot and killed, in Cleveland.
Since the start of the year, there have also been at least five other transgender women murdered in the United States, and most of them, like Wall, were trans women of color.
These senseless murders of hate hit all in the trans community, but it’s exceptionally hard hearing of a sister being killed within miles of your home or hometown. It reminds us of the dangers we all as trans people face but also strengthens us to fight even harder for justice, for equality and to the end of the discriminatory practices of all involved from local police, to local and national media to hold them accountable for their actions.
These women aren’t murdered by one person, they are murdered by a system that attempts to inform the public that the lives of trans people are less valuable than theirs. It’s our job, each and everyone who identifies as trans to call B.S., on this!!! End the Violence!
- The State Newspaper is one of the leading news sources in the state of South Carolina and continually misgender and deadname transgender people, even after outcries from the transgender community of South Carolina. Email the writer, the editor of the State and TMP urges all our readers to contact them, as we have and urge them to end their discriminatory practices, which is contrary to Media Guidelines. A) Writer
- If any information that may be beneficial to the investigation to Chesterfield County Sheriff Dept please call 843-623-2101.
- Trans People of Color Coalitions report on Violence Against the Trans Community
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