Two Cisgender People Were Killed in Separate Attacks Motivated by Transphobia

Trans people have long maintained that transphobia does not just affect us. That’s been proven true in the worst way, with reports of two cis people being murdered for allegedly misdirected anti-trans hostility.

In a Sunday blog post, PGH Lesbian Correspondents collected the stories of Michelle Dionne Peacock and Collin Smith. Peacock was a 59-year-old Black cis woman who was reportedly murdered by 67-year-old Tommy Wayne Earl in Richmond, Indiana in June. Officers were dispatched to the Merle Henderson Apartment complex in Richmond on June 30, according to local outlet FOX 59. Peacock’s body was found with a laceration to the throat, and she was pronounced dead on the scene.

Officers found Earl armed with a straight razor and with blood on his hands and clothing. Earl resisted arrest, and according to FOX 59, went so far as to tell one of the officers that he would kill him too.

During interviews with investigators, Earl allegedly referred to Peacock as “a male acting like a woman” several times, per FOX 59, and that he would “do it again.” Earl claimed he had been having a “dispute” with Peacock for months and made reference to the possibility of having had a psychotic break, telling investigators he had recently adjusted how he administered drugs prescribed to him by the V.A. He also reportedly told investigators that he needed to be kept away from Black inmates, saying that he “does not get along with them.”

Earl is being held at the Wayne County Jail and has been charged with a level 1 felony of murder, a level 6 felony of intimidation, and a class A misdemeanor of resisting law enforcement, according to FOX 59.

On her Facebook page, Peacock wrote that some of her many hobbies include shopping, mahjong, cooking, and trivia games. In between Facebook game updates, Peacock had even updated her profile picture to a photo of herself wearing a shirt that said “Legalize Being Black” on March 2. Her daughter, Rochelle Peacock, made a GoFundMe last week to raise money for her funeral. In the description, Rochelle shared that Peacock had lived in Richmond for three years and had been battling “a long life of cancer.” She also stated that Earl had been “bully[ing] her,” and although Peacock made numerous complaints, “nothing was done.”