While San was femme presenting in social media and their daily life, their chosen identity isn’t explicitly clear: some community members have referred to San as a trans woman, whereas other family and friends refer to them using male pronouns when expressing sentiments on the loss of their loved one; as a result, we use they/them pronouns throughout to describe them, and refer to San as a gender non-conforming person.

Born and raised in Athens, Georgia, San was loved by many and had a particularly close relationship with their mother and younger sister, who described San as “the life of the party”. They “regularly attended every cookout, party, and family function,” and often did their friends’ hair.

As of this writing, their death is being investigated as a homicide by the Athens police, due to the suspicious circumstances surrounding their death. On the morning of October 19th, a critically injured San was found by a neighbor on Trail Creek Trail, a multi-use trail that runs behind the University of Georgia’s Chicopee Complex; they were then transported to a nearby hospital where they later died. Attempting to make sense of San’s death, family members walked the trail where San’s body was found to identify any clues that could lead to answers behind this horrible murder. In a press release from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, the police are requesting that anyone with information about the incident contact Detective Christina Bradshaw at 762-400-7323 or Christina.Bradshaw@accgov.com

In an interview with 11Alive, through a tearful exchange, San’s younger sister LaKesha Fleming said “they took my best friend” while other family members lovingly noted that San lived their life open without care of others judgements of them. At a celebration of San’s life, their cousin Sharday Johnson spoke about how San “would do anything for anybody,” and called for justice for San and their family. At this time, friends and family have notified the public via a Facebook post that there has been no official fundraising for San’s burial expenses and that any donations should be directed to San’s mother, Mary Coleman.

San is the 24th transgender or gender-expansive person killed in Georgia since HRC began tracking fatal violence against the trans community in 2013—making Georgia the state with the fourth highest total of known victims. San is the third person killed in Georgia in 2024 alone, following the deaths of Righteous TK “Chevy” Hill and Shannon Boswell, both of whom were Black trans people killed in Atlanta.

At the state level, transgender and gender non-conforming people in Georgia are not explicitly protected from discrimination in employment, housing, education and public spaces. Though we have recently seen some political gains that support and affirm transgender people, we have also faced unprecedented and ongoing anti-LGBTQ+ attacks in the states–and in Georgia in particular, where we have seen over 20 anti-LGBTQ+ bills filed in the current state legislative session alone.

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. The intersections of racism, transphobia, sexism, biphobia and homophobia conspire to deprive transgender people of the 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 non-conforming 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 CountMeIn 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.