On September 20, 2019, Domingo Ramirez-Cayente drove up to pedestrian Daniela Calderon, a Latina transgender woman, in the 11000 block of Dennis Road, north of Royal Lane in Dallas, where he made derogatory remarks about gay and transgender people. Calderon walked away from Ramirez-Cayente, heading toward a nearby bus stop. Ramirez-Cayente drove up on the curb and shot at her. Multiple bullets struck Calderon in the chest and arm, but fortunately she survived her injuries. Police investigators later identified Ramirez-Cayente’s truck from nearby surveillance cameras, and he was arrested for traffic offences. During questioning, he confessed to investigators that he shot Calderon.[1] He was charged with aggravated assault. The Dallas Police Department investigated the incident as a hate crime.[2]

    The Dallas Voice reported that Ramirez-Cayente had approached Calderon for sex, but on learning that she was a transgender woman, he decided to kill her.[3] Judge Hal Turley, a felony court magistrate, released Ramirez-Cayente on a $25,000 bond and with no electronic monitoring device, even though he had a criminal record and in the past had fled the country to avoid prosecution.[4] As of October 2020, Ramirez-Cayente was nowhere to be found. In Dallas County, a bail hearing often lasts no more than 15 seconds.[5] Judge Hal Turley is known to ask few questions, with hearings lasting less than a minute. According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in 2010 Ramirez-Cayente had entered the U.S. illegally and was arrested by immigration officials. He was deported back to Mexico and is liable to a felony charge punishable by up to 20 years in prison for illegally reentering the country after having been deported.[6]

    In 2019, The Dallas Morning News reported that Texas leads the nation in transgender murders. Nearly half of these deaths occurred in Dallas.[7] Calderon told The Dallas Morning News, “I ask again for justice for me and for all transsexual women, because we have a right to live.”[8]

[1] Marc Ramirez and Tom Steele. “29-Year-Old Man Charged with Assault in Shooting of Transgender Woman in Northwest Dallas,” Dallas Morning News, September 25, 2019, www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/09/24/29-year-old-man-charged-with-assault-in-shooting-of-transgender-woman-in-northwest-dallas/ (accessed October 28, 2020); Dallas Voice, “Man, Who Confessed to Shooting Trans Woman Has Jumped Bail,” Dallas Voice, Oct. 11, 2019, dallasvoice.com/man-who-confessed-to-shooting-trans-woman-has-jumped/ (accessed October 28, 2020).

[2] Lauren McGaughy, “Texas leads the nation in transgender murders. After the latest attack, the Dallas trans community asks why,” Dallas Morning News, September 30, 2019, https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2019/09/30/texas-leads-nation-transgender-murders-according-national-lgbtq-organization/ (accessed October 28, 2020).

[3] Dallas Voice, “Justice for Daniela: Rally Thursday to Support Trans Woman Injured in Hate Crime,” Dallas Voice, Nov. 20, 2019, dallasvoice.com/justice-for-daniela-rally-thursday-to-support-trans-woman-injured-in-hate-crime/ (accessed October 28, 2020).

[4] Dallas Voice, “Man, Who Confessed to Shooting Trans Woman Has Jumped Bail,” Dallas Voice, Oct. 11, 2019, dallasvoice.com/man-who-confessed-to-shooting-trans-woman-has-jumped/ (accessed October 28, 2020).

[5] Mustafa Z. Mirza, “in Dallas County, bail is set in secret – and often in seconds,” The Texas Tribune, Sept. 5, 2018, https://www.texastribune.org/2018/09/05/Dallas-County-Bail-Machine/ (accessed October 28, 2020).

[6] Lauren McGaughy, “ICE Says Mexican Citizen Who Confessed to Shooting Transgender Woman in Dallas Was Deported in 2010,” The Dallas Morning News, 12 Oct. 2019, www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/10/11/ice-says-mexican-citizen-who-confessed-to-shooting-transgender-woman-in-dallas-was-deported-in-2010/ (accessed October 28, 2020).

[7] Lauren McGaughy, “Texas leads the nation in transgender murders. After the latest attack, the Dallas trans community asks why,” The Dallas Morning News, September 30, 2019, https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2019/09/30/texas-leads-nation-transgender-murders-according-national-lgbtq-organization/ (accessed October 28, 2020).

[8] Lauren McGaughy, “ICE Says Mexican Citizen Who Confessed to Shooting Transgender Woman in Dallas Was Deported in 2010,” The Dallas Morning News, 12 Oct. 2019, www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/10/11/ice-says-mexican-citizen-who-confessed-to-shooting-transgender-woman-in-dallas-was-deported-in-2010/ (accessed October 28, 2020).

Ramirez, Marc, and Tom Steele. “29-Year-Old Man Charged with Assault in Shooting of Transgender Woman in Northwest Dallas.” Dallas Morning News, 26 Sept. 2019, www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/09/24/29-year-old-man-charged-with-assault-in-shooting-of-transgender-woman-in-northwest-dallas/.

“Man, Who Confessed to Shooting Trans Woman Has Jumped Bail.” Dallas Voice, 11 Oct. 2019, dallasvoice.com/man-who-confessed-to-shooting-trans-woman-has-jumped/.

“Justice for Daniela: Rally Thursday to Support Trans Woman Injured in Hate Crime.” Dallas Voice, 20 Nov. 2019, dallasvoice.com/justice-for-daniela-rally-thursday-to-support-trans-woman-injured-in-hate-crime/.

McGaughy, Lauren. “ICE Says Mexican Citizen Who Confessed to Shooting Transgender Woman in Dallas Was Deported in 2010.” Dallas Morning News, 12 Oct. 2019, www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2019/10/11/ice-says-mexican-citizen-who-confessed-to-shooting-transgender-woman-in-dallas-was-deported-in-2010/.

McGaughy, Lauren. “Texas Leads the Nation in Transgender Murders. After the Latest Attack, the Dallas Trans Community Asks Why.” Dallas Morning News, 2 Oct. 2019, www.dallasnews.com/news/2019/09/30/texas-leads-nation-transgender-murders-according-national-lgbtq-organization/.