Transgender woman stabbed to death in Chicago

A transgender woman in Chicago was fatally stabbed and left for dead in an abandoned building.

Ciara Minaj Carter, 31, was stabbed multiple times in the West Garfield Park neighbourhood of Chicago, late on Wednesday (October 3).

She was found dead at the scene by Chicago Police, who said in a statement that that Carter had been arguing with an unidentified man.

Ciara Minaj Carter (Facebook)

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the death is being treated as a homicide, and an autopsy found she died from “multiple sharp force injuries.”

Carter is the 22nd known transgender person murdered in the US so far this year. Transgender women, and specifically trans women of colour, face one of the highest murder rates of any demographic group.

It is the second murder of a member of Chicago’s transgender community in just weeks, after Dejanay Stanton was shot dead on August 30 in an unsolved killing.

LaSaia Wade, an acquaintance of Carter who runs Chicago trans advocacy group Brave Space Alliance, criticised the Chicago Police Department.

Wade said: “It feels like we are being targeted.

“I’m frustrated and upset with the lack of cases turning around. There is a lack of needs for our safety from police.”

Tributes were paid to the victim on her social media pages.