Police in Birmingham, Alabama have
charged a 23-year-old man with the September 23 murder of Jazz
Alford, a 30-year-old African-American transgender woman.
Alford's body was found at the Kings
Inn motel on September 23. She had been shot multiple times.
Alford is the 22nd
transgender American to be murdered this year, surpassing last year's
official total of 21. Many of the victims have been
African-American.
Denzell Thomas was charged with
Alford's murder on Friday.
Alford's sister, Toya Milan, also a
transgender woman, said that she was delighted by the news.
“I'm still mourning, of course, but I
am so filled with joy right now because this monster is off of the
streets and he can't harm anybody else,” she
told AL.com.
Thomas was already facing charges
resulting from the shooting and robbery of an unidentified
transgender woman. In that case, the woman, who is recovering, was
shot in the face.
Milan said that her sister was driving
from High Point, North Carolina to visit her in Atlanta when her car
broke down in Birmingham. She was buried in North Carolina.