He attacked without warning, family members say, aiming a gun at the transgender woman as she sat on the couch beside her mother, watching television and laughing. James Allen Byrd didn't like the wigs and the dresses and the makeup. He didn't like that Rae'Lynn Thomas was there, her aunt said, "just being Rae." Byrd, 53, the boyfriend of Thomas' mother, fatally shot Thomas on Wednesday afternoon at the mother's southwest Columbus apartment in the Franklin Manor complex on Tracy Circle, Columbus police said. He has been charged with murder and is being held in the Franklin County jail. "Rae was our heart," said her aunt, Shannon Thomas. "This monster took away a bright light."

He attacked without warning, family members say, aiming a gun at the transgender woman as she sat on the couch beside her mother, watching television and laughing.



James Allen Byrd didn't like the wigs and the dresses and the makeup. He didn't like that Rae'Lynn Thomas was there, her aunt said, "just being Rae."



Byrd, 53, the boyfriend of Thomas' mother, fatally shot Thomas on Wednesday afternoon at the mother's southwest Columbus apartment in the Franklin Manor complex on Tracy Circle, Columbus police said.



He has been charged with murder and is being held in the Franklin County jail.



"Rae was our heart," said her aunt, Shannon Thomas. "This monster took away a bright light."



Even after Byrd had shot and mortally wounded 28-year-old Rae'Lynn, he jumped on her and started beating her, Shannon Thomas said. Rae'Lynn's mother, Renee Thomas, was trying to fight back and call 911 at the same time.



"She took all the power she had and punched him in the face and he got off of Rae," Shannon Thomas said. "He's like 6-2 or 6-3. Rae was maybe 5-4 and 150 pounds, if that."



Police Detective James Porter said police are not investigating the case as a hate crime, although that could change if more information comes to light or if the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office determines such a charge is appropriate.



"I have taken calls from the transgender community asking why this isn't a hate crime," Porter said on Friday. "We have no problem investigating a hate crime if that's what this turns out to be. But without getting too much into what we're investigating, I don't think that's the main reason."



Advocacy groups say hate should always be considered as a possible motivation in crimes against LGBT people, who are disproportionately affected by violence.



According to BRAVO, the Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization, Rae'Lynn Thomas is at least the 18th transgender or gender non-conforming person to die by homicide in the United States so far this year. The total for 2015 was 21, the Human Rights Campaign reported.



"Right here in Ohio, this is the second homicide of a transgender woman of color in as many weeks," said Aaron Eckhardt of BRAVO.



Skye Mockabee, 26, was found dead in a Cleveland parking lot on July 30, a day after she had gone missing. Police say the transgender woman had suffered head trauma.



"The trend over the last few years is horrific," said Melissa Alexander of TransOhio. "The killing and violence has got to stop."



The name and gender that appears on police reports and in the media in such cases is a sensitive topic, Alexander and others say. Many advocates see it as a final insult to refer to a transgender person with the gender identity they transitioned away from. Authorities generally use the legal name of a victim, and not all transgender people have documented name or gender changes.



Rae'Lynn Thomas lived as the woman she believed herself to be but was understanding of family members who still called her Rayshawn, out of habit, or used the male pronoun, Shannon Thomas said.



"He was Rae, Rayshawn, Boo-Boo � we didn't care. We loved Rae regardless," she said.



Rae'Lynn began transitioning about a decade ago and never looked back, Shannon Thomas said. "As soon as 18 hit, it was like, 'I'm going to be me.'''



She wanted to look her best at all times. "Dressed to the nines to clean the kitchen," Shannon Thomas said. "Rae would say, 'I have to be ready.' Always, always dressed to a T; makeup and hair always so beautiful."



Shannon Thomas said Byrd had begun to single out Rae'Lynn and blame her for things. "But no one expected anything like this," she said.



Rae'Lynn's mother, Renee Thomas, said she was ending her relationship with Byrd. She said she thinks Rae'Lynn's gender identity played a part in the rage that exploded this week when Byrd walked out of a bedroom and pulled a gun.



"I think that he had some jealousy," she said, as Rae'Lynn was so outgoing, warm and well liked.



Rae'Lynn, who was often dancing and singing, was close to her family and always ready to help with a special-needs cousin. She was "loving, gentle and kind," Renee Thomas said. "Just a joy to be around."



Friends have established an online GoFundMe account to help with funeral expenses at http://bit.ly/2aIhXl1