CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The violent deaths of two transgender women in the last few days has sent shock waves through a community whose members remain outraged over the brutal murder in January of a transgender woman in Olmsted Township.

,

an advocate for the Greater Cleveland transgender community,

said the death Friday of Brittany Stergis looks particularly like a hate crime. Stergis, identified by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office as Laron Kidd, was found shot in the head inside her car off West 25th Street

"There would be no other reason for anyone to come up like that and shoot somebody the way they shot her," Nash said.

Police said the 22-year-old was parked at a public housing facility. Nash said the area is near nightclubs.

Police initially said the victim was a woman, but on Saturday said the person was a man dressed in women's clothing.

On Thursday morning,

a 52-year-old disabled resident of a senior apartment complex in Cleveland's Old Brooklyn neighborhood, was found dead in her bed of an apparent homicide. She had head injuries.

Skinner legally changed her name from Brian Skinner in 2002. Nash said he did not know when Kidd began calling herself Brittany Stergis.

There have been no arrests in either case.

Cleveland police said Saturday there is no indication the incidents are related. Department spokesperson Det. Jennifer Ciaccia said neither has been titled a hate crime. She did ask that anyone with information about either incident call police at 216-623-5464.

In January, Cemia "Ce Ce" Dove, a 20-year-old transgender woman, was killed in an apartment in Olmsted Township by a man who thought he had arranged a date with a woman, Cuyahoga County prosecutors said during the trial of

last month. Prosecutors said Bridges became enraged when he discovered Dove was a man and stabbed Dove 40 times, then threw the body into a pond. The body surfaced in April.

Bridges was convicted of the stabbing death and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in about 20 years.

Dove, who was born Carl Acoff, was a focus of the

on Nov. 22 at Cleveland City Hall. About 130 people attended. The annual event honors the memory of transgender people murdered around the world during the year.

Cleveland Councilman Joe Cimperman has been outspoken about the need for greater acceptance of transgender individuals. He spoke at City Hall that night. On Saturday he said he is waiting to see police reports on the two recent suspected homicides to see if they are hate crimes.

"If they are, it is heinous and unacceptable," the councilman said. "We don't tolerate this."

He said while crime in general is going down in this country, attacks on transgender individuals are rising.

Nash said the transgender community in Greater Cleveland will hold a meeting in about a week to discuss their concerns.

He said, "When people don't understand about the transgender community and that we are just trying to live our lives the best we can, then others feel it's OK to hurt us simply because they fear what they don't know."'