Black trans teen Jayla McGee died a violent death on July 5th in Florida. Why isn’t the media covering her story? – Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

Black trans teen Jayla McGee died a violent death on July 5th in Florida. Why isn’t the media covering her story? – Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

Screenshot Another Black trans teen appears to have been killed, this time near Belle Glade, Florida. Belle Glade is part of Palm Beach. Her name was Jayla McGee and she was 19. Reports surfaced on Facebook and other social media platforms that a 19-year-old Black trans person had died a violent death on Sunday, July 5, 2026. There are no media reports specifically related to this reported death. Comments suggest Jayla was shot to death at close range. I’m a little shocked that we cannot find any information, any acknowledgment that this young person was ripped from this mortal coil by gunshot. There are many reports of violent incidents over that time period, but none match up with the facts that Jayla’s friends are posting. While there is no public obituary at this time, the family has announced a viewing Friday night followed by a celebration of life on Saturday. Colors are pink and white. Jayla also used the names Javarous (perhaps assigned name?) and Baby J. According to one friend, Jayla had begun hormone replacement therapy and was planning her top surgery just days before her death. Some of the reel clips reference LGBTQ+ and ballroom community affiliations. Jayla was born and raised in Belle Glade, Florida. She had a big beautiful family of siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles and more whose grief has demonstrated the deep love for this young woman. Coupled with disbelief that she was killed, their voices and her story should be acknowledged. A prolific user of social media, Jayla filled the feeds with funny videos, memes, proud photos of her loved ones, and lots of back and forth with her friends. “I never had to question if you really loved me because I knew you did you appreciated me and I appreciated and accepted you for who you were/” “You will forever be missed you most definitely was the life of the party” Friends organized a vigil on July 18, 2026 – the video has been shared many times. What struck me is that as much as she used social media, as open and vivid her life appeared, she really kept many things private. I don’t where she went to school, if she had a job, what her dreams were, what her favorites things were. But she did share her transition or rather her gender identity moving deftly between names, pronouns, and profiles, a sort of social fluidity that perhaps someone like myself, a cis woman, simply cannot understand. I do understand that a lot of people loved Jayla in all her incarnations and with all of her realness, many people are just devastated. It remains hard to understand how someone so young and vivacious and popular could be killed over a holiday weekend with nary a word in mainstream media. Her life and her death matter. She should be acknowledged. She should not be dead, she should not have been shot, and she she should not be ignored. Jayla’s family experienced a similar tragedy in 2022 when her then 8-year-old sister Ronziyah was shot to death in the family’s front yard. That’s a lot of pain for any family to endure. Jayla would have been 14 at time time, a tender age to experience such a loss. That additional loss makes the media silence even more perplexing. Perhaps Jayla’s death was not violent and she does not belong on the list I curate, but her life and death absolutely put her on the larger lists – to honor and commemorate her life, to always remember her death. Jayla McGee is the 24th person whose death we’ve memorialized in 2026. She and Juniper Blessing were both 19, the second youngest in age from our list. Jayla is the 15th trans person of color and the 12th black trans woman. 24 people are on this list. 16 of them are BIPOC trans siblings. 12 were Black, two were Latina, and one was Pasifika. Eight were white, the identity of one is unknown as of now. We talk a lot about disproportionate impact – here is the evidence. Jayla is also the third trans woman murdered in Florida this year, 270 miles separated the three. Their murders were not connected in a serial or spree sense (that we know of).) Jayla is the youngest of the three. Florida is not a safe place for trans folx. Others lost there include Andrea Doria Dos Passos  and Monique Brooks in 2024; Camdyn Rider, London Price and Alexa Sokova in 2023. Duval Princess,, Nedra Sequence Moss, Semaj Billingslea, and Tiffany Banks were killed in 2022. In 2021, Alexus “Kimmy” Braxton, Keri Washington, Jenny De Leon  and Royal Poetical Starz. Back in 2020, Tony McDade, Bree Black, and Skylar Heath. And in 2019, Bee Love lost her life. In 2018, we reported on the deaths of Celine Walker, Karla Patricia Pavon-Flores, Sasha Garden and Londonn Moore. From 2017, reported on the death of Chay Reed. And ten years ago in 2016, we covered the death of Mercedes Successful. That’s 28 trans neighbors killed in a ten year period, at least those that have been reported. Sometimes we see Florida as two different places. One is the Disney, ocean beaches, nice weather vacation spot of American dreams. The other is a fiercely destructive turbulent underbelly that slaughters people, cages people in swamps, and erodes the fundamental supports of working and lower class residents. Disney distracts us from these atrocities and from having to reconcile ourselves to our complicity in these horrors. Imagine if every LGBTQ person and ally who traveled to Florida for recreation also invested in the Florida trans and queer communities? Like a carbon emission tax offset. This dichotomy is part of the contemporary trans and queer experience as well. Some members of our community live the Disney life while others struggle in the flip side. That divide is artificial, based mostly on privilege and denial. But heed my word – one day we’ll all be on the flip side. It is also worth noting that the number of young adults, 25 and under, has increased to six reports so far. That’s a detail we want to monitor closely. Rest in power, Jayla. You deserved so many years to grow into adulthood and enjoy the world you, a world you filled with fierce joy and love. I don’t know what happened to you, but your queer and trans community mourns your untimely death. We will push for the transparency and acknowledgment that you deserve. I am sorry for everything you lost. May your memory be a revolution. Deaths reported in 2026 These individuals are part of the trans community including transgender, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and gender creative folx. Please do not share this content without attribution. Thank you Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-Mccray – Petersburg, Virginia. March 13, 2026. Age 42. Davonta Curtis – Chicago, Illinois. April 5, 2026. Age 32. Dannielle Spillman – San Francisco, California. April 16, 2026. Age 74. Aleanna Royal Belcher – Binghamton, New York. April 17, 2026. Age 31. Lucas Redbeard Knapp – Candy Kitchen, Cibola County, New Mexico, April 18, 2026. Age 39. Hailey Singleton – Dunnellton, Florida, May 5, 2026. Age 29. Lanessa Rodriguez – Ft Pierce, Florida, April 28, 2026. Age 35. Jade Roberts – Houston, Texas, January 2, 2026. Age 25. Paris Harris – Dallas, Texas, April 17, 2026. Age 21. Eryka Caldwell – New York, New York, May 17, 2026. Age 41. Nathaniel Potts – Eldorado, Illinois, May 20, 2026. Age 16. Persia Amarra Conway – Houston, Texas. Date unconfirmed. Found on May 26, 2026. Age 33. Juniper Blessing – Seattle, Washington. May 8, 2026. Age 19. Marlow Trottie – Alexandria, Louisiana. June 8, 2026. Age 35. La’Daijah Walters – Mobile, Alabama. June 22, 2026. Age 32. William ‘Ike’ Eickholt – Hastings, Minnesota. February 1, 2025. Age 74. Kayonna Ankeny – Augusta, Georgia. February 5, 2023. Age 30. Asia Williams – Baltimore, Maryland. June 23, 2026. Age 38. Haley Brook Terry – Mobile, Alabama. April 6, 2025. Age 20. Jayla McGee – Belle Glade, Florida (presumed). July 5, 2026. Age 19. Other Deaths We are following these cases, but cannot confirm the details right now. Daniella Analee Escobedo – Las Vegas, Nevada (unconfirmed), April 12, 2026. Age 34. Name Unknown – Charlotte, North Carolina. Found on May 21, 2026. Date of death unknown. Age unknown. Leia Trysiss Ali – Las Vegas, Nevada. May 24, 2026. Age 35. Kalena ‘Peaches’ Croskey – Birmingham, Alabama. June 11, 2026. Age 35.