K.C. Trans Woman Killed; Media Coverage Criticized

A Kansas City, Mo., man has been charged with second-degree murder in the Christmas Eve death of a transgender woman.



Kenyan L. Jones, 26, is accused of fatally shooting Darnell D. Pearson, 31, also known as Dee Dee Pearson, The Kansas City Star reports. The paper reports that Jones said he had paid to have sex with Pearson several hours earlier, and after learning she was biologically male, obtained a gun and shot her.



Coverage of the case has upset LGBT activists. Local media have used male pronouns in referring to Pearson, leading to calls from the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project, the Justice Project, and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to “respect her chosen, lived identity.” Also, according to local blog Tony’s Kansas City, news outlets have characterized Pearson as a prostitute only on the word of her accused killer. Read more here.