Transgender man Jordan Cofer has been identified as one of the victims of the shooting in Ohio.
Cofer was only out as trans to a handful of close friends, and was remembered as “extremely bright” and “well-liked”.
A friend of Cofer’s, who chooses to remain anonymous, told Splinter News over Twitter: “He identified with he/him pronouns to people he trusted and knew would support him.
“Jordan was probably one of the sweetest people you would ever meet, a true saint. He tried to give the best to everyone.”
Cofer was the sibling of the suspected shooter Connor Bennets, and was the first victim of the mass shooting in Dayton’s Oregon district that tragically took the lives of nine people and left 27 wounded.
Pebbles LaDime “Dime” Doe, a 24-year-old Black transgender woman, was also murdered in South Carolina on 4 August.
Doe’s body was found in a car parked in a driveway in Allendale County with multiple gunshot wounds. The police currently have no suspects, and are urging anyone with information to come forward.
She was remembered by friends and family as someone who “showed love” and had a “bright personality”.
Cofer and Doe are the 14th and 15th transgender casualties this year in the United States, after Dana Martin, Jazzaline Ware, Ashanti Carmon, Claire Legato, Muhlaysia Booker, Michelle Washington, Paris Cameron, Chynal Lindsey, Chanel Scurlock, Zoe Spears, Brooklyn Lindsey, Denali Berries Stuckey and Kiki Fantroy.
Transgender women in the United States face extraordinarily high levels of violence. Last year, 26 trans individuals were killed in the country – a majority of which were black and Latina – and 25 of those were women.
If this story has affected you, you can contact Switchboard in the UK and The Trevor Project in the US.
Related: Remembering the 26 trans individuals who were murdered in the United States last year.
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