A Richmond, Virginia family is left heartbroken and seeking answers after the death of a loved one.
Read More: Black contractor braves threats in removing Confederate statues in Richmond
Richmond Police are still searching for answers after Chae’Meshia Simms was shot and found dead in her mother’s rental car on Monday. The family says she was on her way home, according to WTVR news.
“She had suffered an apparent gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene,” said a police spokesperson. Emergency crew responded to a call about a car crash around 6 a.m. in Richmond’s Washington Park neighborhood. First responders found Simms, a transgendered woman in her 30s, dead in the driver’s seat.
This may be the 39th violent death of a trans person or non-conforming this year according to, the Human Rights Campaign. They believe there’s more but many trans deaths go unreported or misreported.
“We are mourning Chae’Meshia along with her friends and family. Although I did not know Chae’Meshia personally, she was from my hometown, and her death impacts the trans and gender non-conforming community everywhere,” said Tori Cooper the HRC Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative. “We are continuing to see a devastating rate of violence against trans and gender non-conforming people in the United States, especially against Black and Brown trans women, and it must be stopped. It takes all of us to speak up and take action to end this violence.”
Read More: Rep. Cedric Richmond joins Biden administration as senior adviser
Simms’ father calls her passing “tremendously heartbreaking” and says he will never stop looking for his daughter’s killer.
“With the help of the LGBT community, the support of the Richmond Police Department, as you can see out here with the community, we’re going to continue to keep looking,” said her father on Friday at a vigil for his daughter.
“I ask em, to turn yourself in,” he adds. “We’re never going to stop looking. We’re never going to stop looking.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!