'Sadness, anger and fear': Three Black transgender women have been killed in Milwaukee in last nine months
Just two weeks ago, Cashay Henderson wrote on her Facebook that she was thankful nobody was writing “rest in peace” in front of her name.
Her cousin, Veronica Beck, saw that and felt scared. She had seen her cousin post before about the friends of hers that she lost. She had spoken to her cousin on the phone about the difficulties of her life as a Black transgender woman – how it was a life she wouldn’t wish on anybody.
“I would have a fear in my heart for her,” Beck said. “I just never thought it would happen to her.”
On Sunday, Henderson became the third identified Black transgender woman to be murdered in Milwaukee in less than nine months, alarming an LGBTQ+ community that is also dealing with a rise in hateful rhetoric and policies across the nation.
“Our immediate reaction is sadness, anger and fear,” said Christopher Allen, the president and CEO of Diverse + Resilient, which serves Milwaukee’s LGBTQ+ community.
Henderson, 31, was shot and killed Sunday morning inside her home, which was then set on fire, on the 5300 block of North 29th Street. Milwaukee police said a person of interest — a 33-year-old Neenah man — was arrested in connection to the killing after a car chase in Menasha on Tuesday.
Her family launched a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for memorial services. As of Wednesday evening, the page had topped $4,000 goal.
Her death comes just months after Brazil Johnson, 28, and Regina “Mya” Allen, 35, also were killed in shootings in June and September of 2022, respectively.
A 31-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with Allen’s death, but no arrests in the case have been made since Johnson was killed. A reward of $28,000 is being offered for information leading to those responsible.
Prior to 2022, Milwaukee had not seen an identified Black transgender woman die by homicide since Chanel Larkin, 26, was shot and killed in 2010.
The streak of fatal violence has rattled Milwaukee’s LGBTQ+ community, which held a vigil and town hall meeting for all three women Wednesday, roughly 40 people attended and discussed some of the issues facing the local LGBTQ+ community.
Henderson was 'independent probably since she could walk'
Henderson is originally from Chicago, where she grew up with two sisters, Beck said.
She described Henderson as an outgoing, dominant personality who was constantly on the move and making friends.
“Cashay will light up the room and Cashay will own the room,” Beck said. “She’s been independent probably since she could walk.”
Henderson always put thought and effort into her appearance — so much so that Beck found it humorous at times. Beck recalled one instance when Henderson was a kid and she refused to walk out from an overhang in a rainstorm out of fear it would ruin her beloved suede Hush Puppies shoes.
"They're going to get messed up!" Beck recalled Henderson yelling.
Around the time she was 13 or 14 years old, she began to transition, and her family accepted her.
“We didn’t make a big deal about it at all,” Beck, 38, said. “She had the support of her family.”
Beck, who now lives in California, said Henderson eventually moved to Milwaukee to find better opportunities. Although she worried about her cousin’s safety, she marveled from afar at the progress she was making as an adult.
Henderson had recently bought herself a new car and was long active in various groups in Milwaukee.
For five years, Henderson was a member of a support group for Black transgender women, called Sisters Helping Each Other Battle Adversity. A social media post from the group said Henderson was “inspiring to many of our ladies” and was “nothing less than a joy to be around.”
“To see how far she had come in life, I was just so proud of my cousin just to see my cousin out there making things happen for herself,” Beck said.
Rise in anti-trans rhetoric can harm transgender people anywhere, advocates say
Nationally, Henderson is at least the sixth transgender, or gender non-conforming, person to die by homicide so far this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign. It comes after the organization tracked a record-high 57 homicides in 2021 and another 38 in 2022.
The majority of those victims are Black and Latinx transgender women.
The fatal violence has sounded alarms for a community that has long endured harsh discrimination but also a recent resurgence in anti-trans rhetoric and policies nationwide.
Large percentages of transgender people report experiencing a lack of acceptance within their own families; denied opportunities in education, employment, health care and housing; and unequal treatment in the justice system, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
The marginalization results in increased risk for intimate partner violence, physical and mental health disparities, poverty and homelessness and other challenges.
“They’re not isolated incidents,” Allen said of the three homicides in Milwaukee. “While the situations may be different, the overarching theme that ties it all together is that our Black trans women are placed in situations that put them at risk of being attacked, harassed and experiencing more violence.
“It’s disheartening because we want to increase the awareness around the needs and challenges that a transgender individual faces, but it’s hard to continue to push forward when there’s so much negative news constantly coming out around laws and bills that are seeking to criminalize trans individuals for being themselves.”
The ACLU has tracked what they say is a record number of nearly 350 anti-LGBTQ bills proposed across the U.S. this year. Many of them target transgender or gender non-conforming people directly.
The bills would limit the ability to update gender information on identification records; weaken anti-discrimination laws; restrict access to certain books; block access to gender-affirming medical care; and prevent trans students from participating in school sports and discussions on issues relevant to them.
Although none of those bills have been floated in Wisconsin this year, according to the ACLU, Allen said they can still harm transgender people anywhere – including those in Milwaukee.
When such legislation is considered or codified into law, Allen said, it adds to the ongoing stress that transgender people living anywhere deal with on a daily basis.
It also “gives people permission to be more vocal about the hatred and discrimination that they may be feeling as well. It gives that permission to close yourself off from seeing trans people as human beings.”
But harmful dialogue is present locally as well. Like Johnson and Allen before her, initial police and media reports about Henderson’s death incorrectly reported her gender.
It’s an all-too-common occurrence that is considered another form of violence toward the community because “it is a constant reminder that (transgender people) are not accepted as the way that they are,” Allen said.
Vigil to honor the local LGBTQ+ lives lost to violence
Henderson was top of mind at Wednesday's vigil outside of the Milwaukee LGBTQ Community Center, but really the event was to remember all the LGBTQ+ lives lost to violence, including Johnson and Allen.
Many spoke about some of the fear and anxiety they feel living as a trans person following Henderson's killing. "Living in Milwaukee has become extremely dangerous to us. ... Us trans women do not even want to come out of the house because we're in fear that we'll be next," said Aaleh Hughes with the center.
Lady Lana with the Black Rose Initiative says she has considered detransitioning recently. "It's beginning to come down between my happiness and detransitioning, all because I feel my safety is the priority," Lana said.
"(As) I think about Cashay, all the many stories and things that we've shared with each other, how many similarities we had, as far as traumas and things like that, I can't help but feel if I don't change my own course, I can be next. And I don't want to be next."
Lana spoke with Henderson the morning of her killing. She said Henderson had been making birthday plans and had a photo shoot scheduled. "She was so vibrant and happy," Lana said.
Lana said she was encouraged to keep living her true life by Henderson's actions that fateful morning. "Look at her, she's still going. And I'm still going ... and Aaleh's still going ... we still going," she said.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson made a short speech at the event where he signaled a message of unity. "We come together on calling for an end to violence against any person that's victimized or targeted because of hate, discrimination, or just simply ignorance," he said.
How to contact police
Anyone with information on the deaths of Henderson and Brazil Johnson are asked to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360, or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or by using the P3 Tips app.
How to find help
Diverse + Resilient offers trauma-informed support for the LGBTQ community statewide. To talk to an advocate, call or text the statewide warmline at 414-856-LGBT (5428).
If you or someone you know is dealing with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "Hopeline" to the National Crisis Text Line at 741-741.
Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter @elliothughes12.