Trans Teen Jazlynn Johnson Killed in Las Vegas
Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
This article contains a description of fatal violence against a trans teenager.
Jazlynn Johnson, an 18-year-old trans girl, was shot and killed in Las Vegas earlier this month.
According to local CBS affiliate KLAS, a man called 911 in the early hours of May 6, and told the authorities that his 17-year-old son had shot a friend, but would not say where. After going to the man’s home, officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department detained the 17-year-old and asked where the shooting occurred, per KLAS. Upon arriving in the area, officers found Johnson in a car with a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The teen was taken into custody at the Clark County Juvenile Hall, and faces charges of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon and destroying or concealing evidence. According to a police report obtained by KLAS, the suspect had left home the night before and came home at 3 a.m. “hysterical and in a panic.” His parents said that he told them that the shooting was an “accident,” and that he said, “I did something wrong, I shot my friend.” He asked his parents not to call the police, but they said that they had to.
André Wade, the State Director of Silver State Equality, Nevada's statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, said in a statement, “Mere words lack the capacity to convey the LGBTQ+ community’s sadness at this incomprehensible violence and our deepest sympathy for Jazlynn’s family and friends.”
“While a 17-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with murder, we urge continual investigation to determine if this can be charged as a hate crime,” Wade continued. “Crimes against transgender and gender non-conforming people – especially transgender youth of color – continue to escalate nationwide.”
In a separate press release, GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said that Johnson’s death “is the latest in a pattern of senseless deaths among transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming youth across America who face rampant harassment and violence simply because of who they are.”
“The hostile climate of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and proposed legislation has a real-world impact on LGBTQ lives,” she said. All of us who believe in love and kindness have an obligation to speak out to support every young person’s right to live freely as themselves, in safety, peace, and acceptance.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article included biographical information about a different Jazlynn Johnson. This version has been updated to retract those details. We regret the error.
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