Black Trans Woman Shahere ‘Diamond’ Jackson-McDonald Fatally Shot
Transgender woman Shahere “Diamond” Jackson-McDonald was found shot to death in Philadelphia the morning of November 24, Thanksgiving Day.Jackson-McDonald, 27, was discovered at her mother’s apartment in the Germantown neighborhood, Philadelphia’s NBC affiliate reports.
She had been shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene. It didn’t appear that anyone had forced their way into the apartment.“We are here today to honor a promising life that was violently ended by a person or persons that Philadelphia Police and our office are working tirelessly to bring to justice, so that they can be held accountable for this crime and are not able to cause any further harm to others,” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said at a press conference last week, according to the station. “We are here to say her name: Diamond Jackson-McDonald.”“I just want the world to know that Diamond was my rock, my shoulder, my child whom I love with every inch of me of what I have left to give,” Linda Jackson, Jackson-McDonald's mother, said at the press conference. “Whoever you are, you took away my gem, my Diamond, someone whom was all about her family and friends.
You tore many hearts, and we will not rest until we get justice. I will not sleep until you are caught. You may not have to answer to me now, but you will have to answer to God.
You reap what you sow.”“It is devastating and heart-wrenching as we mourn the loss of yet another member of our LGBTQ family, Shahere ‘Diamond’ Jackson-McDonald,” said Celena Morrison, executive director of Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs, according to the Philly Voice. “Violence against transgender people — especially our trans siblings of color — continues to be an epidemic in this.
