Justice for Monika Diamond
Monika Diamond, a 34 year old transgender woman - who was an LGBTQ+ activist and businesswoman - was shot dead in North Carolina.
Police and ambulance staff responded to a call about a disturbance where they encountered Ms. Diamond, who was suffering from shortness of breath.
Monika Diamond, who was the joint chief executive of a pageant which pays tribute to LGBTQ+ mothers, was put inside an ambulance where she was shot several times. Monika Diamond was announced dead at the scene in the city of Charlotte on March 18th.
A reporter with WSOC in Charlotte tweeted that Diamond was identified by police using her dead name -- the male name assigned by her parents at birth -- showing how little respect the police give to trans people. The alleged shooter, identified by police as 32-year-old Prentice Lavar Bess, climbed in the ambulance with Diamond, who asked paramedics if he could come in.
MEDIC protocol doesn’t allow family or friends into the ambulance with a patient, so Bess was turned away, the reporter said.
Bess came back a few minutes later and opened fire, killing Diamond, authorities said.
“Officers were able to immediately take the suspect into custody,” police officials said. “The paramedics on scene were not injured.”
Bess is being held in the Mecklenburg County Jail on charges of murder, breaking and entering a motor vehicle and larceny of a firearm, according to jail records. He is being held without bail.
( Made with Carrd )