Arnesha-Bowers-WBAL

Arnesha Bowers was a 16-year-old eleventh grader at City College in Baltimore, Maryland. Her brutal murder happened just recently but hasn’t been as prominent as it should be in news media. The good news is, Baltimore Police may be getting closer to administering the justice this young woman deserves.

According to Baltimore Police,  the teenaged girl was followed home from a party by one young man. After her grandmother dropped her off, the young man, now aware of Bowers’ home address, returned with another young man. They allegedly robbed, dragged, and sexually assaulted Bowers. Then, they choked her to death with an electric cord, and set her on fire. As of today, news has developed in connection with the arrests of two suspects. One suspect has offered his account of the events which resulted in Bowers’ unfortunate death.

According to police, Childs indicated that the two men had planned to rob Bowers’ home suspecting that her grandmother might have valuable belongings there. When they entered the home, Bowers was asleep. It was when she awoke that Dixon dragged her down to the basement. This is allegedly where the sexual assault occurred. Childs says that Dixon returned upstairs and indicated that the two should leave the home because it was on fire. Reportedly, Dixon also told Childs that Bowers was dead. The two young men, Adonay Dixon, 23, and John Childs, 20, have been charged with first-degree murder.

This particularly vicious rape and murder of an innocent Black girl has yet to receive the mainstream news coverage reserved for other top stories. However, it is important that we remember and say her name to make more visible to exploitation, murder, abuse, and violation of Black cis, trans, and queer women every single day in this country.

Her name is Arnesha Bowers. Her life was taken. Say. Her. Name.

 

Jenn M. Jackson is the Editorial Assistant for The Black Youth Project. She is also the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of Water Cooler Convos, a politics, news, and culture webmag for bourgie Black nerds. For more about her, tweet her at @JennMJack or visit her website at jennmjackson.com.