TDoR 2008 / 2008 / July / 01 / Ebony Whitaker


Ebony Whitaker

Age 20

1 Jul 2008
Memphis, Tennessee (USA)
Shot

TDoR list ref: tdor.info/1 Jul 2008/Ebony (Rodney) Whitaker

Ebony Whitaker
Ebony Whitaker [photo: transgriot.blogspot.com]

Ebony was shot and killed just outside a Memphis daycare. She may have been killed by a client.

Whitaker’s cousin Claudia Blair told EyeWitness News that justice would eventually find the person responsible for the murder.

"I would like to tell the person that did this crime, you will not get away with it," she said. "Justice will be served."

Memphis Police have not taken anyone into custody for Whitaker’s murder. Investigators have not released a possible motive in the killing.

Blair told EyeWitness News that she thinks one of Rodney’s clients got upset when they realized Ebony was [transgender].

"I’m thinking [she] ran across a man," she says, "who wanted female company. And he thought he had a beautiful young lady. And in the midst of the moment, he found out Rodney [was a trans] woman and got mad and shot [her]."

The Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition (TTPC) called upon the Memphis Police Department to be more responsive in crimes against their community.

"We consider these two recent crimes (Duanna Johnson’s beating and Rodney Whitaker’s murder), combined with the unsolved murder of Tiffany Berry, to be unacceptable," said Marisa Richmond, president of TTPC. "The lack of response by the Memphis Police Department has set a tone in the community that the lives of transgender people, especially African-American, are irrelevant."

https://transgriot.blogspot.com/2008/07/family-of-murdered-transwoman-seeks.html

https://outandaboutnashville.com/transgender-murder-victim-laid-to-rest/

https://transgriot.blogspot.com/2008/07/transgender-woman-murdered-in-memphis.html

Report added: 16 Nov 2018. Last updated: 13 Jan 2021

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