10th Trans Person of the Year, Kenne McFadden, Killed in San Antonio
San Antonio Police initially misgendered a woman who is now being recognized as the 10th transgender person of color to be killed this year by the Human Rights Campaign.
Kenne McFadden’s body was found near San Antonio’s River Walk on April 9. Her death has since been ruled as a homicide and it is speculated that someone pushed her into the river, where she drowned and was later found floating by a barge operator. The San Antonio Current reports that police already have a suspect in custody, who is currently behind bard for unrelated charges.
The initial misgendering of McFadden wasn’t corrected until this past week. This infraction is common in the investigations into the deaths of transgender persons.
This is routine in cases with trans victims,” said Nell Gaither, president of Dallas’ Trans Pride Initiative. “If she presented herself as female, but the cops say they’re looking for information on a man, no one’s going to be able to help.”
McFadden was working at a River Walk restaurant and was known to keep those around her smiling and regularly share her poetry or videos of her singing.