A murder victim was fatally gunned down on Christmas Day for being transgender, her loved-ones fear. Courtney Key, 25, was found dead by the side of a road in Chicago last Friday, with lifelong friend Beverly Ross saying she and other loved-ones think Courtney was killed by an anti-trans bigot.

Ross said: ‘I believe Eshay was targeted. We need to get to the bottom of this because black trans lives matter. We are not going anywhere.’ Courtney’s lifeless remains were discovered the side of a road at 8:35pm on Christmas Day, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators initially believed her to be the victim of a hit-and-run crash, but later found gunshot wounds, and realized Courtney had fallen victim to foul play. Chicago Police have yet to comment further on a motive for the crime, and have yet to make any arrests.

Ross says she and Courtney’s family are also upset with Chicago PD for misgendering their late friend as male, and describing her as ‘John Doe,’ a generic term used on male crime victims whose real name are unknown. Ross said: ‘We are human. We are real.

‘We’re tired of Chicago police misgendering trans people; gender non-conforming people.

‘They’re dehumanizing our character.’ Courtney’s friends described her as ‘hilarious,’ and as the life and soul of any party.

Ross told CBS Chicago: ‘She wanted to be something. She wanted to beat the odds.’ Transgender people – particularly black trans women – are at extremely high risk of becoming victims of violent crime, or murder.

Courtney is at least the 43rd transgender person to have been killed in the US this year, the vast majority of whom were black women.

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