Hundreds of activists called for
justice for Kiesha Jenkins at Saturday's 5th annual Philly
Trans March.
Jenkins, 22, was murdered early Tuesday
by a group of five or six men, making her the 20th
transgender woman to be killed in the United States this year, and
the 18th transgender woman of color. Police believe
Jenkins, who was shot twice in the back, was a victim of a robbery
gone wrong.
“We mourn the loss of Kiesha Jenkins,
London Kiki Channel, and too many others,” said Ted Martin,
executive director of Equality PA, referring to the death of Channel,
a 21-year-old transgender woman who was fatally stabbed in May inside
an abandoned house in Philadelphia.
“Violence against transgender women,
and particularly women of color, is too commonplace and it must
stop,” he added.
Activists chanted “Hey, hey, ho, ho,
transphobia has got to go” and carried signs which read, “Justice
for Kiesha Jenkins.”
Katrina Robinson told NBC10 that she
knew Jenkins and other transgender people who have been murdered.
“This has been happening for so long,
and it's difficult to see that this is happening to people in my
community,” Robinson
said. “I know she suffered, and it was terrible because she
was alone.”