Diamond Brigman, a Black Trans Woman and "Incredible Light," Killed Last Month in Houston
KHOU11
This article contains a description of fatal violence against a trans woman.
Diamond Cherish Brigman, a Black transgender woman remembered as “an incredible light” by her friends, was shot and killed in Houston on March 16. She was 36 years old.
Brigman was killed while standing on the side of Country Creek Street in Houston at about 1 A.M., eyewitnesses told Houston police. Two suspects driving a white 2017 Chevrolet Malibu LT circled the area several times and were caught on surveillance cameras, police said, before one man exited the vehicle and shot Brigman multiple times. Police told local CBS affiliate KHOU that both the driver and shooter abandoned the car and fled.
Though the suspects’ car was reportedly recovered, no arrests in the case have been made public. The Houston Police Department has recently faced increased scrutiny from activists and victims’ advocates, after Police Chief Troy Finner revealed in February that HPD officers had abandoned more than 261,000 investigations since 2016 due to “lack of resources.”
Born in Connecticut, Brigman moved to Texas and attended public school at East Austin College Prep, according to information from her social media accounts reviewed by Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents.
Brigman’s friends, alongside Black and LGBTQ+ community leaders, paid tribute to her life and passing at a vigil in Houston’s Museum District on March 24. “Too many from the community are losing their lives to violence, and these just aren’t numbers,” one of Brigman’s friends told the crowd, KHOU reported. “They’re people with dreams and families, and the loss screams out for change.” Another friend reflected that they were assembled “not just to say goodbye to Diamond, but to remember the incredible light she was in our lives.”
Verniss McFarland, founder of the Black trans-led community aid organization The Mahogany Project, called for greater solidarity with Black trans women every day, “not just in moments like this. We need community more than ever.” McFarland also lauded one witness to the shooting, who reportedly stayed by Brigman’s side as she lay dying.
“For someone to have enough care to sit beside somebody in their final moments…we thank you. I'm sure Diamond appreciates you,” McFarland said at the vigil, according to local Fox affiliate KRIV.
Brigman is one of at least seven trans people who have died by violence in the U.S. since the beginning of 2024, per a running tally from the Human Rights Campaign. Last February, Maria Jose Rivera Rivera, a Latina trans woman, was killed in her Houston home in what is believed to be a case of intimate partner violence.
Community and civil rights groups including HRC released statements mourning Brigman’s death, and the Houston-based Montrose Center encouraged LGBTQ+ Texans to contact them for mental health and grief counseling services. The National Black Justice Coalition also condemned Brigman’s killing, and called on Congress to pass HR 4960, the “Chyna Gibson Stop the Transgender Murder Epidemic Act of 2023,” which would create a commission to address violence and other issues affecting trans women of color.
Hernandez was the owner of Reyna Hair Salon in Renton, WA. Police have a suspect in custody.
“As a community, it feels that we are constantly mourning the loss of a trans sibling, continually fighting to get the justice they deserve, and pushing for measures to ensure their safety,” said Victoria Kirby York, NBJC Director of Public Policy and Programs. “Instead of our elected representatives fighting alongside us, they are either ignoring our pain or actively adding to the harm [...] This epidemic of violence has gone on for far too long, but will continue unless more accomplices join us in protecting the trans community.”
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