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The body a Black transgender woman was found brutally beaten in a trash can in Chicago days after her family reported her missing.
According to People, a witness found 33-year-old Tatiana Labelle's remains in an alley of the Chatham neighborhood around noon on March 18. Labelle's family, who affectionately knew her as Tee Tee, had reported her missing five days prior, WLS-TV reported.
"It is heartbreaking for someone to beat her to death and throw her in the trash like she was garbage," Shameika Thomas, Labelle's sister, told WLS-TV. "I loved my sister, whether she was transgender or not, and I would like for me and family to have justice."
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office confirmed that Labelle died from "multiple injuries due to assault." No suspects have been taken into custody.
"Everyone is reeling," Jessica Veltstra, board member of the Trans Doe Task Force, a nonprofit organization, told People. "There is a lot of fear. I know that keeping attention on her is going to make it much more likely her case will be solved, her family will get a measure of justice for this."
"If anyone has any information on her murder, they should please contact the police immediately," Veltstra continued. "This person does not need to be on the street. The family needs justice."
A resident who present told WLS-TV that Labelle's remains were discovered when sanitation workers "pulled it up and the garbage flipped over, and everything fell out."
Labelle's killing is the seventh confirmed murder of a transgender person in the US, Iggy Ladden, director of the Chicago Therapy Collective, told People.
"Trans women in general, especially Black trans women, are treated as disposable in this society and it is nauseating to think about what happened to Tee Tee," Ladden said.
"Black women in general, certainly Black trans women, go missing and there is not enough done. There are not enough police resources. There is not enough community response or political power weighing in."
Labelle's death comes just days after Black trans activist Elise Malary was found dead in nearby Evanston, Illinois. A manner and cause of death in Malary's death are pending, People reported.
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