Harlem, FL — Bee Love Slater, a 23-year old transgender woman from Florida, was found dead inside a burning car on September 4th. Her death is just one of the increasing number of murders of Black transgender women in the U.S. that have not been solved. Slater, who reportedly made her transition just recently this year, was saving money to move from an economically depressed town in Pahokee, Florida to Atlanta where she thought she would be more accepted as she is. But then, the tragedy happened.
Slater’s body couldn’t be initially identified due to the severity of the burns she incurred. After a few days, the body was determined as Slater and her death was ruled a homicide.
As of now, the authorities have yet to name any leads and they are not considering it a hate crime.
“We can’t say it’s a hate crime yet because we don’t know what the motive was,” Hendry County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Susan Harrelle told ABC 7.
Meanwhile, after her transition, Slater allegedly received threatening Facebook messages. On the night that she died, she reportedly texted a friend that she needed to leave the town.
