Tyra Henderson, also known as Tyrone, was twenty-two years old and lived on T Street SE in Washington DC. She made her living as a sex worker.
Shortly before two-thirty a.m. on April 23rd, 2000, someone called 911 and reported hearing moaning coming from an alley behind 11th Street NW. According to later reports, police didn’t respond in a timely fashion, an allegation that resulted in complaints after the fact.
At six-twenty-six a.m., the body of Tyra Henderson was discovered in the alley where the moaning sounds had been reported. She had been stabbed to death.
Her case remains unsolved, and tragically, the murder would serve as something of a bellwether of things to come. Several more transgender women were slain in Washington DC in the next few years until the city earned the dubious distinction in 2006 of having the greatest number of murders of transgender victims, surpassing Houston, Texas, and New York City.
Crime Immemorial 