A transgender woman in Chicago was fatally stabbed and left for dead in an abandoned building.

Ciara Minaj Carter, 31, was stabbed multiple times in the West Garfield Park neighbourhood of Chicago, late on Wednesday (October 3).

She was found dead at the scene by Chicago Police, who said in a statement that that Carter had been arguing with an unidentified man.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the death is being treated as a homicide, and an autopsy found she died from “multiple sharp force injuries.”

Carter is the 22nd known transgender person murdered in the US so far this year. Transgender women, and specifically trans women of colour, face one of the highest murder rates of any demographic group.

It is the second murder of a member of Chicago’s transgender community in just weeks, after Dejanay Stanton was shot dead on August 30 in an unsolved killing.

LaSaia Wade, an acquaintance of Carter who runs Chicago trans advocacy group Brave Space Alliance, criticised the Chicago Police Department.

Wade said: “It feels like we are being targeted.

“I’m frustrated and upset with the lack of cases turning around. There is a lack of needs for our safety from police.”

Tributes were paid to the victim on her social media pages.

One said: “Rip Ciara all we have is memories. I’ll never forget you baby Ciara Minaj Carter.”

Just days before the killing, trans activists in the city had been holding a vigil for transgender murder victims.

The LGBT+ rights organisation Human Rights Campaign said in a statement on Thursday: “HRC mourns Ciara Minaj Carter, a Black trans woman found fatally stabbed yesterday in Chicago.

“Carter’s death is the 22nd known killing of a trans person in 2018 — and the second Black trans woman to be killed in Chicago in the last 5 weeks. #SayHerName”

David Hogg, the student-turned-gun violence campaigner who survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, previously spoke out about the epidemic of trans murders.

He said: “One of the biggest issues the trans community faces when it comes to gun violence is that often times Trans people are misgendered by law enforcement, local media and even family members.

“This often can make the amount of gun violence the trans community faces be reported as significantly less [than] it actually is. Which is horrifying because of how many hate crimes can go unreported when people are not identified as being trans.”