A string of violence against
transgender women in Memphis, Tennessee continues to haunt the
southern city.
Police say they have arrested an
18-year-old man who shot a transgender woman because the victim
misrepresented herself about her gender. Terron Taylor was taken
into custody Friday after he shot Kelvin Denton in the neck and nose
at the Peppertree Apartments near Graceland, My Fox Memphis
reported Tuesday.
Denton was found near the Whitehaven
Community Center and taken to The Med for medical attention where she
remains in critical condition.
Last year, violence against three
transgender women – Leeneshia Edwards, Ebony Whitaker and Duanna
Johnson – made headlines after following the shooting death of
Tiffany Berry in 2006.
Edwards, a transgender prostitute, was
shot in the jaw, side and back at close range as she was turning to
get out of her car in south Memphis on December 23.
Johnson, 43, another transgender
prostitute, made headlines nationwide when she took a beat down at
the hands of Memphis cops in the station's booking area after she
ignored their “he-she” taunts. Video of the incident was widely
circulated on the Internet in early 2008 and two officers lost their
jobs over the incident. Ten months later, Johnson was dead, a victim
of a gunshot wound to the head.