Man Charged In Death Of Black Trans Woman

Police have charged a man with the murder of Merci Mack Richey, a Black transgender woman shot and killed in Dallas on the final day of Pride Month.

The North Texas Fugitive Task Force arrested 20-year-old Angelo Walker on Wednesday (July 8). According to Buzzfeed, he appeared in court the following day and was charged with murder and breaking probation for a past aggravated robbery.

Richey, who was 22, was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in a parking lot in an apartment complex in South Dallas at 6:15 a.m. on June 30.

According to the arrest affidavit, a witness said he saw Walker “chasing a woman through the parking lot firing a handgun at her” at around 5 a.m. The witness claims he knew Walker and recognized the ski mask he often wore.

“He observed him stand over her and fire multiple shots at her as she was on the ground,” investigators wrote.

RELATED: Black Transgender Teen Found Dead In Car Killed In Apparent Hit

Investigators say Walker and Richey had an “altercation” over a video of the two of them that Richey planned to release.

In a post of Facebook from June 29, Richey wrote “Brand new video on my private snap in jusssst a minute y’all have to see how nasty I got with this n***a!”

Since Richey’s death, her family released a photo of her body at the wake and the caption: “It is with the blessing of the family that we share a photo image from Merci’s viewing today. Merci ‘Pooda’ Mack Richey was special to so many people, so to family, it feels right to allow the community the privilege to share in the love, the grief and the wonderful memories that she leaves behind. To quote her best friend fb/Dolly Part ‘I’ll remember the bossy attitude, the loudness, the confidence, the biggest prettiest smile ever, the LOVE she had for me 💖 Life Is Precious.’

According to the Human Rights Campaign, 21 trans people have been killed so far in 2020 – a majority of which have been Black trans women. Four have been killed in the last week, three of whom were Black trans women.