Precious Armani
Age 3729 Feb 2004
Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
Shot
TDoR list ref: tdor.info/29 Feb 2004/Precious Armani
Precious was found with a gunshot wound to the head in the driver’s seat of a rented white Chevrolet Cavalier parked outside a high-rise apartment block.
Police would not say whether there had been a struggle.
Their solemn faces illuminated by the flicker of candles, about 60 people gathered for a vigil Monday night to remember Precious Armani, a [transgender] woman who was found shot to death outside a Buckhead apartment building [2400 Peachtree Road] two weeks ago.
Armani's death was the 10th known homicide of a [transgender] person in Atlanta and the 14th in the state since 1990 — placing Georgia fourth in the nation among states with the highest number of violent deaths of [transgender] people.
All 14 deaths remain unsolved, according to TransAction, an Atlanta-based transgender advocacy group.
And with police no closer to a motive in the Feb. 29 death of Armani, the vigil participants at Pershing Point Park in Midtown fear her death, too, may remain a mystery.
"These murders are just the most extreme results of transgender persecution here," said Asha Leong, a Buckhead resident who helped organize the vigil. "Merely existing as a transgender person in our society is a radical act, because there are challenges you face while doing ordinary things, like getting on a bus, that others don't."
While the Atlanta Police Department is saying little about the status of the investigation, Sgt. Connie Locke said police are aggressively pursuing the case.
Precious was a 37 year-old trans woman who had fully transitioned but had not undergone surgery. Her killer was never found.