Post submitted by Brian McBride, former HRC Digital Strategist 

HRC mourns the tragic death of Chay Reed, a transgender woman of color, who was shot and killed on Friday in Miami. Reed was 28.

WPLG reported that Reed was shot in the stomach while running across the street. Her attacker fled the scene and is still at large. Media coverage had initially misreported her gender because police had misidentified Reed’s gender, according to WPLG.

Patina Peterson, Reed’s longtime friend, spoke to Mic about their longtime friendship -- describing her as someone who was full of life and beloved by many.

"She was a light, always trying to make everyone around her happy," said Peterson. "I don't even remember her getting into anything. I don't remember seeing her in an altercation out there with anybody in a bad way. I've never seen that."

Across the United States, Reed is at least the ninth transgender woman of color killed this year. Her death marks yet another dark moment for the transgender community, which is plagued by disproportionately higher rates of violence.

HRC extends its sincere condolences to Ms. Reed’s family and friends.

To learn more about HRC’s transgender justice work and violence against transgender people, visit http://www.hrc.org/explore/topic/transgender.

To learn more about the victims of anti-transgender violence in 2017, click here.