Ashton was the 31st known transgender or gender-nonconforming person to be fatally shot or killed by other violent means in the U.S. this year — the latest known case in a category of deaths that are often underreported or misreported, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Prince George’s investigators did not find evidence suggesting that Ashton’s slaying was related gender identity, police said Wednesday.
At the vigil, Ashton’s family members said they did not understand how the police came to that conclusion. Stuart Anderson, Ashton’s grandfather, said after he saw his granddaughter’s body with his own eyes, he thought otherwise.
“If there is evidence to indicate that wasn’t the case … show us what made you think that way,” Anderson said. “What made you think that Taya’s gender identity had nothing to do with her demise?”
The Human Rights Campaign called for more people to “speak out with urgency” regarding rising rates of reported transgender homicide in a statement Tuesday about Ashton’s death. Nationwide, The Washington Post identified 140 transgender women who were killed between 2015 and 2020. More than 75 percent of those killed were Black transgender women. Many of them died at the hands of an intimate partner.
Longtime D.C. transgender activist Earline Budd sat on one of the wooden benches at the gazebo Wednesday. She reminded the crowd of Ashanti Carmon and Zoe Spears — two transgender women who were also killed in Prince George’s in 2019.
“I plead with the community, please save us,” Budd said. After community members and relatives shared their memories of Ashton, Stuart directed the crowd to another stop. They would be going to Ashton’s apartment complex.
Even more people were present in the parking lot at the front of her building. Clusters of friends and family members gathered around Stuart, blocking cars in the lot. A handful of people broke off from the group to leave balloons and flowers at Ashton’s doorstep.
Ashton was remarkable to family members because she believed she could make things she wanted happen, her aunt Diamond Anderson said in an interview. Ashton had been putting money aside so she could buy a Tesla auto someday. She hoped to open a clothing boutique and started an Instagram account to market her new business the week before she died.
“Even if it wasn’t happening in the moment,” Diamond said, Ashton “was speaking it into existence.” She called Ashton “a full-circle type of person,” one who “manifested any and everything.”
Glover created a poster board with a collage of photos the two had taken together over the years, with a purple marker scribbled in between the gaps. She held the collage throughout the vigil.
“Taya, you already know, we love you baby, we always loved you,” Glover said in an interview as she leaned toward the recorder as if to speak directly to Ashton. “If you ever doubted in your mind that nobody loved you, today I know you see it. Everybody came out for you. The love is real.”
As family members and close friends finished sharing their memories of Ashton, it started to rain. Stuart Anderson, Ashton’s grandfather, ushered others to pull out the white candles they purchased before the rain extinguished the flames. People tapped the candle wicks against each other, readying for the closing moment. Stuart called out to the crowd, “Y’all ready?”
Under the rain, the crowd counted down and released dozens of purple and white balloons as they yelled “Taya!”
“Look at the T!” one of crowd members called out, pointing to the silver T-shaped balloon that was drifting toward the clouds.
Someone else whispered in response, “Long live Taya.”
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'Please save us': Dozens gather to mourn death of Black transgender woman - The Washington Post
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