St Louis police investigate trans woman’s death after autopsy raised doubts
Jhené Audrict’s mother (R) questioned the initial suicide ruling in the death of her daughter. (Facebook/Melissa Crawford)
St Louis police are investigating the death of 21-year-old transgender woman Jhené Audrict as a homicide after initially classifying it as an apparent suicide.
Audrict was found dead on 17 August by a city worker between an abandoned house and a church, according to her mother, Melissa Crawford.
St Louis police confirmed in a statement that she had suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
However, an autopsy later identified injuries “that could be inconsistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound”, according to KSDK. Police subsequently began investigating the death as a homicide.
What did Melissa Crawford say before Jhené Audrict was found?
Crawford told KMOV that she last spoke to Audrict on 15 August, when she was heading to her boyfriend’s house.
“She was kind of nervous about going to her boyfriend’s house because they were having issues,” Crawford said. Crawford added that, the following day, Audrict’s boyfriend rang her and told her Audrict was missing.
Crawford also questioned the initial apparent-suicide classification by pointing to her daughter’s eyesight.
“Jhené was legally blind. Unfortunately, when they did find Jhené, Jhené’s glasses were not located on her face. Jhené cannot see without her glasses,” she said.
“Literally, she can’t use a phone. She can’t go to the bathroom.”
Crawford said she was “proud” to be Audrict’s mother, describing her daughter as “very adventurous, a traveler, highly educated”.
She added: “The resolution for me is to get justice for Jhené. Also, to advocate for the trans community. Awareness for domestic violence. And also advocating for mental health. I will not rest. And I will not let this be swept underneath the rug. Jhené Cordelia Audrict will get justice.”
Advocates raise concerns about trans deaths being misclassified
A report titled A Crimson Record: Seven State Modern-Day Lynching Report 2000–2025 by civil rights group JULIAN catalogued more than 150 deaths across Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama, with more than 50 involving transgender women.
Audrict’s case sits within a broader national context of violence against transgender people in the US, with trans women disproportionately affected.
Jill Collen Jefferson, founder of the social justice organisation JULIAN, said: “Back in the day, a lynching was called a suicide with a wink and a smile. In the present day, they’re still called suicides. But now people take that seriously.”
Similar doubts raised by families have surfaced in other cases too, including when relatives of Emily Garcia cast doubt on police’s initial theory after the 25-year-old trans woman was found dead inside a truck in Los Angeles in October 2024.
