Aiexpress – A South Carolina man was found guilty of killing a black transgender woman. This was the first federal trial in the country for a hate crime based on gender identity.
After careful consideration lasting approximately four hours, the jury reached a verdict, finding Daqua Lameek Ritter guilty of committing a hate crime in the 2019 murder of a woman known as “Dime Doe”. Additionally, Ritter was convicted of using a firearm in relation to the fatal shooting and for obstructing justice.
Ritter has not yet been given a date for his sentencing. He could be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Brook Andrews, an assistant U.S. attorney for the District of South Carolina, expressed their dedication to combating violence directed at individuals based on their sexual orientation or any other protected characteristics. They emphasized that this case serves as a strong example of their unwavering commitment in this regard.
In recent years, attacks on the LGBTQ+ community have seen a significant surge. The Department of Homeland Security has highlighted that transgender women of color have long been subjected to alarmingly high rates of violence and hate crimes. Furthermore, the FBI reported a 37% increase in gender identity-based hate crimes in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Prior to 2009, federal hate crime laws failed to acknowledge offenses driven by the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It wasn’t until 2017 that the first conviction for a crime targeting an individual based on their gender identity was recorded. In this case, a Mississippi man pleaded guilty to the murder of a 17-year-old transgender woman and was subsequently sentenced to 49 years in prison.
What happened at the trial?
According to witness evidence and text messages seized by the FBI, the four-day trial over Doe’s murder focused on her and Ritter’s secret sexual relationship, with the latter becoming angry after their romance in the small hamlet of Allendale was revealed. Prosecutors accused Ritter of shooting Doe three times with a.22 caliber revolver to conceal his association with a transgender lady.
Prosecutors produced police interviews in which Ritter stated that he had not seen Doe the day she died. However, body camera footage from Doe’s traffic check revealed Ritter’s unique left wrist tattoo on a person in the passenger seat hours before police discovered her collapsed in the car, parked in a driveway.
During the trial, defense attorney Lindsey Vann claimed that there was no physical evidence linking Ritter to the crime. She stated that state law enforcement never conducted a voluntary gunshot residue test, and the couple’s close friendship and frequent automobile rides made it unsurprising that Ritter would be with her.
Doe’s close acquaintances testified that it was well known in Allendale that she had begun her social transition as a woman shortly after graduating from high school. She began dressing in skirts, having her nails done, and wearing extensions. She and her friends talked about the boys they were meeting, including Ritter, whom she met during one of his frequent summer visits from New York to stay with family.
However, text exchanges seized by the FBI indicated that Ritter tried to keep their relationship as private as possible, prosecutors claimed. He reminded her to delete their conversations from her phone, and hundreds of texts written in the month preceding her death were erased.
Their conversations became very tense just before Doe died. In one message dated July 29, 2019, she claimed that Ritter did not appreciate her generosity. He said that he believed they had agreed that she didn’t need the “extra stuff.”
He also told her that his major girlfriend at the time, Delasia Green, had insulted him with a homophobic slur after discovering their romance. In a text message sent on July 31, Doe stated that she felt used and that Ritter should never have told Green about their relationship.
Ritter’s defense team claimed the sampling was simply a “snapshot” of their messages. They referred to numerous instances in which Doe encouraged Ritter or thanked her for one of her many kindnesses.
Testimony from witnesses
On the day Doe died, a group of friends witnessed Ritter drive away in a silver automobile with tinted windows, which Ritter’s acquaintance, Kordell Jenkins, claimed he had seen Doe drive before. Ritter reappeared several hours later, Jenkins said, wearing new clothes and appearing “on edge.”
On that hot summer day, the buddies lit a fire in a barrel to keep the mosquitoes at bay, and Ritter dumped his book bag into it, according to Jenkins. He claimed he couldn’t see the contents but guessed they were goods Ritter no longer desired, probably the clothes he wore previously.
The two ran into each other the next day, Jenkins said, and he noticed the silver handle of a small pistol protruding from Ritter’s waistline. He claimed Ritter told him to “get it gone.”
Defense attorneys maintained that Jenkins made up the tale to please prosecutors and that Ritter would never ask someone he hardly knew to dispose of a murder weapon. They claimed Ritter’s associates provided inconsistent versions concerning specifics such as the alleged burning of his garments while under threat of prosecution if they refused to assist.
According to witness testimony, Ritter began acting strangely after allegations circulated around Allendale that he had murdered Doe.
Green claimed that when he arrived at her cousin’s house in Columbia a few days later, he was filthy, odorous, and pacing nonstop. Her cousin’s boyfriend drove Ritter to the bus stop. Green asked him before leaving if he had killed Doe.
“He dropped his head and gave me a little smirk,” she claimed.
Ritter kept track of the aftermath from New York, according to FBI Special Agent Clay Trippi, who cited Facebook communications with another acquaintance, Xavier Pinckney. On August 11, Pinckney informed Ritter that nobody was “really talking.” However, after state police had visited him on August 14, Pinckney was warning Ritter to stay away from Allendale. Someone was “snitching,” he subsequently said.
Pinckney is facing charges of impeding justice. Federal officials claim he made false and misleading remarks to investigators.
