Trans woman killed after being repeatedly run over
A trans woman has died after being repeatedly run over in a violent attack.
Police officers found Tamara Dominguez, 32, lying unconscious in a car park during the early hours of Saturday morning (August 15).
An eyewitness told officers that Ms Dominguez – who lived in Kansas – had gotten out of a black SUV that then intentionally ran her over – before reversing over her and and running over her a second time.
Ms Dominguez was rushed to hospital in critical condition – but sadly passed away on Monday (August 17).
Friends and family members told authorities that they did not recognise the description of the vehicle or know who Tamara might have been with.
Authorities say they are treating the attack as an aggravated assault – claiming it is too early on in the investigation to confirm whether or not the attack was a hate crime.
“I don’t think it’s fair somebody dies like this no matter what the problem was, what happened. Nobody has the right to kill someone,” her roommate Juan Rendon told KSBH TV.
“I don’t think people have their mind open, they’re just close-minded. They don’t understand.
“For some people being transsexual or transgender or gay they think it’s funny.”
Rendon has launched a GoFundMe campaign to send Dominguez’s body to her family in Mexico.
Three trans women were reportedly murdered last week alone – bringing the total number of those killed in the US this year to 16 so far – though as there is little official monitoring, this may be a low estimate.
As the issue attracts attention for the first time – with Caitlyn Jenner giving over her blog earlier this week to talk about “the number of murders of transgender women of colour” – Barack Obama has been urged to act.
As the President is putting race-related murders and hate crimes at the forefront of his agenda, the leader has been urged to also investigate the trans-related killings.
An official White House petition says: “Since January 9, 2015, [now sixteen] transgender women, mostly women of colour, have lost their lives due to hate and transphobia.
“Eight of these beautiful lives were lost in the first two months of the year. With such a high death toll, something must be done to raise awareness and end the senseless killings of a targeted, vulnerable community.
