JUSTICE FOR KANSAS CITY TRANSGENDER MURDER VICTIM!!!
Today there was a verdict in one of the most tragic murder cases in Kansas City last year. A person was in the process of getting their life together and overcoming incredible odds but was tragically gunned down on a local street following a confrontation.
Today there was a guilty verdict
An important statement:
From The Kansas City Anti-Violence Project:
"Today, Kenyon Jones was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the murder of Dee Dee Pearson on Christmas Eve of last year. In an effort to get his sentenced reduced, the defense attorney attempted to argue "trans panic", stating that Kenyon James shot Dee Dee because they had a relationship and he was unaware that she was a transgender woman. The judge was not swayed by the appalling, victim blaming tactics of the defense and issued a sentence 5 years longer than the initial proposed sentence of 25 years."
The reporting of the incident created a firestorm that's best summed up in this CampKC article:
Media Should Show More Respect in Reporting About Killing
I was at the vigil following the murder and I learned a great many things . . . Mostly that Kansas City is often home to horrible cruelty but can also be a place of great compassion that crosses demographic lines.