Brandy Martell
Age 3729 Apr 2012
Oakland, California (USA)
Shot
TDoR list ref: tgeu/29-Apr-2012/Brandy Martell
Brandy was sitting in her car having a conversation with two men when one of them "became enraged and shot her when he realized she was trans." Witnesses believed that it was a hate crime.
Her killer was postumously identified several years later.
OAKLAND — On the eve of the 17th annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, Oakland police have identified a resident fatally shot three years ago as the man who killed a transgender woman weeks earlier, authorities said Thursday. Brandy Martell, 37, was shot about 5:20 a.m. April 29, 2012, while sitting in a car at 13th and Franklin streets.
Police have identified Malique Parrott, 26, as the man who killed Martell in what was initially described as a possible hate crime, but Oakland police Sgt. Brad Baker said it was a botched robbery. Parrott was killed June 10, 2012, in the 2200 block of Foothill Boulevard. Baker, who has worked the case from the beginning, said Thursday that he initially received information that led to the possibility of Parrott’s involvement in Martell’s death.
But it was not until last August that Baker was able to find a man who was with Parrott that night and who identified him as the shooter. That, paired with additional legwork to collaborate the statement, led Baker to take the developments to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office this week. Baker, who has spoken with Martell’s mother, said the family is thankful for the closure of the case.
Tiffany Woods, Martell’s former supervisor at the Tri-City Health Center in Fremont, works as the Oakland police liaison to the East Bay transgender community. Woods praised the department’s diligence.
“The solving of Brandy Martell’s murder, hopefully, provides some measure of closure for her family, friends and community. To know that there is no longer a killer on the loose is pause for relief,” Woods said Thursday.
“Although it took three long years to finally identify the shooter responsible for her senseless and hateful killing, I applaud the detectives and Oakland Police Department for keeping Brandy’s case active and continuously working the case for leads to bring justice for Brandy Martell and closure for her family.”
Martell worked as a peer advocate for TransVisions, which provides services for transgender people, from 2007 to 2011, when program funding was cut and she was laid off, Woods said. Martell also helped organize five annual Alameda County Transgender Day of Remembrance events in Oakland before her death.
TvT project: ABC Local 30.04.2012; Huffington Post, 02.05.2012
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/brandy-martell-california-transgender-woman-shooting_n_1471209
