On July 2nd just after 11 PM, DeKalb County police responded to reports of a crash where Shannon was found dead at the scene with no driver present. Authorities did not initially realize she had been shot. However, a neighbor described the incident as, “a gunshot and then a few seconds later, it sounded like a car crash or like someone going over the median or something like that. It was very fast.” As of this writing, the medical examiner has not concluded if her death was caused by the crash or the shooting. Investigations are still ongoing, if you know any information contact the DeKalb County Police Department.

Speaking to WSB Atlanta Shannon's mother, Tammy Boswell, reported that she began receiving calls on Tuesday evening from Shannon's friends and boyfriend saying that someone had shot and killed Shannon. Though she initially called the Dekalb Police multiple times for additional information, the police insisted there were no incidents of a person being shot. It was only once the medical examiner's report came back that police discovered that Shannon had been shot. Shannon’s mother says “they killed my baby... I mean, [she] was shot and then left in the street like a deer.”

Trans people in Georgia are disproportionately impacted by the epidemic of fatal violence, particularly at the hands of guns and firearms. Shannon is the 22nd trans person to be killed in Georgia since HRC began tracking fatal violence against the trans community in 2013, making Georgia the state with the 5th highest number of fatalities recorded to date. All but one of those killed in Georgia, were killed with a gun. Shannon is the 2nd trans person killed in Georgia this year, following the death of Righteous TK “Chevy” Hill, a 35-year-old Black transman, who died in February 2024. Both were Black, both were killed in the Atlanta area, and both were killed by guns. More than 25,000 hate crimes in the U.S. involve a firearm each year, which equates to almost 70 cases a day, according to a 2023 report from Everytown for Gun Safety in partnership with HRC and The Equality Federation Support Fund, “Remembering and Honoring Pulse: Anti-LGBTQ Bias and Guns Are Taking Lives of Countless LGBTQ People.” The report also notes a marked increase in anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes, especially against transgender people. In 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, the FBI recorded a record-high number of hate crimes related to gender identity, including a 33% jump in hate crimes on the basis of gender identity from the year before.

In an injustice compounding this tragedy, Shannon was misgendered in some media and police reports. In the last 11 years that HRC has been tracking fatal violence against the transgender and gender-expansive community, approximately two-thirds of all known victims were misgendered by the media and/or by law enforcement. Anti-transgender stigma is exacerbated by callous or disrespectful treatment by some in the media, law enforcement and elected offices. In the pursuit of greater accuracy and respect, HRC offers guidelines for journalists and others who report on transgender people. HRC, Media Matters and the Trans Journalists Association have also partnered on an FAQ for reporters writing about anti-trans violence.

At the state level, transgender and gender-expansive people in Georgia are not explicitly protected from discrimination in employment, housing, education and public spaces. Georgia does include sexual orientation and gender identity as a protected characteristic in its hate crimes law. Though we have recently seen some political gains that support and affirm transgender people, we have also faced unprecedented anti-LGBTQ+ attacks in the states. In June 2023, the Human Rights Campaign declared a National State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ Americans, as a result of the more than 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced into state houses that year, over 80 of which were signed into law—more than in any other year. As of this writing, over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced into state houses since the beginning of 2024, with more than 30 bills passing to-date.

We must demand better from our elected officials and reject harmful anti-transgender legislation at the local, state and federal levels, while also considering every possible way to make ending this violence a reality. It is clear that fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color, especially Black transgender women. The intersections of racism, transphobia, sexism, biphobia and homophobia conspire to deprive them of necessities to live and thrive, so we must all work together to cultivate acceptance, reject hate and end stigma for everyone in the trans and gender-expansive community.

More resources:

• Learn more about the fatal violence cases that HRC is tracking where details are unclear. You may find a list of these cases here.

• Join HRC's Count Me In campaign to take action for transgender and non-binary people.

• Read these guidelines and this FAQ for journalists to ensure greater accuracy and respect in reporting.

• Learn about how transgender and non-binary people are combating transphobia, stigma and anti-trans violence through our Celebrating Changemakers series.