Beloved Philadelphia Drag Performer, Daelicious O’hare Mizani, Found Dead at 23

Instagram/@_.daelicious

Philadelphia drag artist David Manley, who performed under the name Daelicious O’hare Mizani, was found dead in a friend’s home on May 9. He was 23.

Manley’s cousin and drag mother, drag performer Dalyla Mizani Cristal, shared news of his death during an Instagram Live on Friday, May 10.

“Right now, I just want justice for my little cousin. I want justice for my drag child,” Cristal said during the livestream.

According to Manley's friend Seth speaking to local news outlet Philadelphia Gay News (PGN), Manley had been staying with him after being attacked by a group of teens who said they were going to rob him.

“He had bruising all over his body and was in a lot of pain,” Seth told PGN. “[...] I took him to the emergency room that night, where he was then discharged. They wouldn’t admit him. They said it was just a little internal bruising and gave him some Percocet and sent him on his way.”

Seth added that, although Manley initially seemed to be improving, on May 9 his condition changed enough that Seth planned to to take him back to the emergency room that day after work. But when Seth returned home later that day, he found Manley unresponsive. He told PGN that, at the time of his death, Manley hadn’t yet filed a police report about the attack.

In a Philadelphia Inquirer article published on May 14, the Bucks County coroner’s office told the outlet that Manley’s autopsy showed no signs of assault-related injuries or trauma, and that the office does not currently suspect that foul play was involved in his death. The coroner’s office is awaiting the results of a toxicology report to determine Manley’s cause of death, which the Inquirer reports could take up to six weeks.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore told the outlet that the investigation into his death is still ongoing.

“There’s a very good chance he was assaulted,” Vanore told the Inquirer. “But we don’t have any reason to believe the assault was related to his death.”

Although exact details about Manley’s death are unclear, his death occurred amid a trend of worsening anti-LGBTQ+ violence, particularly when it pertains to Black Americans and other queer people of color. According to an FBI report released in October 2023, there were 1,077 recorded hate crimes against gay men in 2022, up from 950 incidents in 2021. Hate crimes perpetrated against trans and gender non-conforming people rose by 32.9% between 2021 and 2022. Meanwhile, anti-Black or African American hate crimes were more than three times higher than the next highest racial or ethnic category.

Speaking to the Inquirer, Manley’s sister, Elizabeth Manley, described him as a “natural performer” who made his first dress out of a sheet at nine years old. Later, he once broke the family’s living room floor doing splits as a teenager. Manley came out as gay to his family when he was 13. His loved ones told the Inquirer that Manley started performing in 2022 right after he turned 21 and could get into the bars where many local drag shows take place.

“He’s one of the best dancers that this city has ever seen,” Seth told PGN. “He was known for doing jump-splits off stages and all those stunts. I was always mesmerized by the level of caliber of performer he was… He was loved by so, so many other people in the community.”

Last fall, Manley was cast in Snatcherella, a weekly, Philadelphia-based competition series inspired by RuPaul’s Drag Race.

“As one of the ‘baby queens’ of the cast, I not only want to prove to myself that I can play with the big kids and hold my own, but I also want to prove to everyone around me that I’m more than just that ‘Dancing Diva,’” he wrote on Instagram in September. “[...] I just hope to make you all proud.”

Philadelphia’s drag community is hosting a benefit show to raise money for Manley’s funeral costs on May 14 at Franky Bradley’s. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 8 p.m. According to local drag queen Shikita Karr-Prime’s May 13 Instagram post, anyone who cannot attend the event but would like to donate can send funds to $HunnieJayne on Cash App with the payment description “Funeral Costs.”

Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.

Originally Appeared on them.