The body of a 17-year-old Black transgender girl was found in Arkansas and authorities are treating the death as a homicide. According to Out.com, last Thursday (June 25), Brayla Stone’s body was found in a car on a walking path.
“Brayla Stone is the 4th trans woman killed this month,” David Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said in a statement to theGrio. “Brayla Stone was 17 years young when someone murdered her because we live in a society where it is not yet explicit that when we say Black Lives Matter we mean all Black lives, which includes Black trans women and girls.”
According to the outlet, a person allegedly claiming to be the person who killed Stone took to social media to boast about getting paid $5,000 for the hit. Screenshots revealed a pile of $100 bills with “$5k” written in red text. In the comments, the person claimed he “zipped em for 5k” and said that it was “Money Well Spent.”
Journalist and trans activist Ashlee Marie Preston took to Twitter to bring attention to Stone’s tragic case. “This is just…smh,” she tweeted. “Another Black trans girl was murdered. When we said protect Black trans women—we meant our youth as well. She was only 17 and media of course used her birth name instead of her REAL name. Say her name. #BraylaStone.”
Last month, a growing petition brought national attention to a Black transgender woman who was found hanging from a tree in Rocky Butte Park outside of a homeless encampment last year. Tete Gulley’s death was originally ruled a suicide by the Oregon Medical Examiner’s Office, but the family believes she was killed.
“Tete’s friends and members of the homeless community have contacted her family, claiming that Tete had been murdered and was then hung from a tree to make it look like a suicide,” the petition reads. “They said there were other homeless people [who] had witnessed it and that someone had a video. The [Portland Police Bureau] is responsible for allocating the resources to find this video. Many claim that Tete had been murdered by an individual with a history of violence, especially towards trans women. This individual has been previously dismissed by the police.”
A petition demanding justice for Stone has garnered over 200,000 signatures so far. The REVOLT team would like to send our condolences to her family and friends. Rest in peace Brayla Stone.