The mom of a Black teenager who was fatally shot in Alabama this week mentioned she believes her daughter was killed due to her transgender id.

Cameron Thompson, 18, was shot a number of occasions simply after midnight on Monday, and her physique was discovered that afternoon a number of blocks from her residence, in line with Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Captain Jack Kennedy.

The suspect and sufferer knew one another, in line with Kennedy. Authorities reviewed Thompson’s on-line exercise and located that she had posted on social media in regards to the suspect’s sexual orientation earlier than she was killed. Police haven’t revealed any particulars about these posts or the character of their acquaintance.

The suspect is below 18 however is charged as an grownup with Thompson’s homicide. Below state legislation defending the id of juvenile defendants, different particulars haven’t been disclosed.

Thompson’s mom, Nikki Matthews-Cunningham, 37, believes that the taking pictures was motivated by Thompson’s id.

“In fact” it was a hate crime, she informed The Related Press on Thursday. If it was a non-transgender lady who “mentioned one thing about him on social media, he wouldn’t have lured her out of her residence and killed her. However as a result of my baby was transgender, that’s why he did it.”

“I hate this occurred to her, all due to her selection of eager to be who she was. That’s the one cause she is useless,” she mentioned.

The authorized definition of a hate crime varies broadly throughout totally different states. Alabama is one in every of 9 states that do not acknowledge sexual orientation, gender or gender id within the authorized classification of a hate crime, in line with the Division of Justice. Thirty-two states embody sexual orientation of their hate crime definition. Solely 15 embody gender id.

Thompson is the second recognized transgender particular person to be fatally shot this yr in Alabama, in line with the Human Rights Marketing campaign. The primary was Tayy Thomas, a 17-year-old Black transgender teenager shot in Cell, Alabama in Could. The person charged with Thomas’ demise is described by her household as a long-term romantic companion, in line with AL.com.

No less than 36 transgender individuals have died from violence over a 12-month interval ending in November, the Human Rights Marketing campaign mentioned in its annual report, launched on the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Greater than half had been Black transgender ladies.

“Cameron’s demise is not only a profound loss for her household and family members — it’s a heartbreaking and unjust loss for the complete transgender neighborhood in Alabama and past,” mentioned Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey, the marketing campaign’s Alabama director. “Her life mattered. Her goals, her mild, and her limitless potential had been stolen far too quickly. Regulation enforcement should conduct an intensive, clear investigation and discover some measure of justice for Cameron’s family members.”

Thompson was clever and bold, and “lit up a room when she walked in,” her mom mentioned. She had deliberate to attend faculty and transfer to New York Metropolis.

“She was simply beginning her life,” Matthews-Cunningham mentioned.

Thompson earned her highschool diploma this yr by means of another jobs coaching program. She transferred there after classmates and a few workers at her public college complained about her utilizing the ladies’s restroom and refused to make use of pronouns that aligned along with her gender id, Matthews-Cunningham mentioned.

“She struggled with individuals not wanting to simply accept her for who she was. However she was such a very good particular person,” Matthews-Cunningham mentioned.

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Safiyah Riddle is a corps member for The Related Press/Report for America Statehouse Information Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit nationwide service program that locations journalists in native newsrooms to report on undercovered points.