Julie Berman
Age 5122 Dec 2019
Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
Murdered
TDoR list ref: tgeu/22-Dec-2019/Julie Berman
Julie was found by emergency crews in a home in Harbord Village suffering from serious head injuries. She died in hospital.
Colin Harnack, 29, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
TORONTO -- A 51-year-old woman assaulted in Harbord Village this weekend has been identified as the city’s 72nd homicide victim of the year.
On Sunday afternoon, at around 2 p.m., emergency crews were called to a residence in the area of Brunswick Avenue and Harbord Street for a report of an assault that had taken place inside.
Police said two people were inside the home when they arrived on scene and a female victim was found suffering from serious injuries.
The victim, identified by police on Monday morning as Julie Berman, was transported to hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.
A charge of second-degree murder has since been laid against 29-year-old Toronto resident Colin Harnack.
Julie had spoken about transphobia at TDoR vigil in Toronto in November 2017:
When Julie Berman came up to the open mic at the trans day of remembrance event on Nov. 20, 2017, she delivered a speech about transphobia in Toronto. She talked about a trans friend of hers that was murdered.
On Sunday, a little over two years later, the trans woman and activist was assaulted and murdered.
“It’s really heartbreaking ... the same thing that she was trying to be vocal about happened to her,” said Davina Hader, a friend of the victim and a member of The 519, an organization that advocates for the inclusion of LGBTQ communities’ members and provides services for them.
Ms. Berman had asked her friend, who was filming the vigil in 2017, not to release the clip online. “I have that still, and I was thinking about releasing [the video],” Ms. Hader said.
For the past few years Julie had run a trans news page under the name "Sylvia Chase".
https://boom1019.com/news/6343207/toronto-transgender-activist-killed/
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/12/27/trans-woman-died-toronto-canada-julie-berman/
https://www.elmundo.es/internacional/2019/12/28/5e07482421efa0f9268b45ae.html
https://thehill.com/homenews/news/476064-trans-activist-julie-berman-killed-in-toronto
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/man-charged-murder-woman-boarding-house-1.5406787
https://toronto.citynews.ca/2019/12/22/annex-assault/
https://thevarsity.ca/2019/12/23/tps-investigating-suspicious-death-in-harbord-village/
https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/man-in-custody-after-womans-suspicious-death
https://www.durhamradionews.com/archives/123527
https://www.facebook.com/PrideToronto/photos/a.10151960104507037/10167899699042037/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/shoo.cat1/posts/10215957376308336
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChristiePitsLiving/permalink/1039563303071713/
https://www.facebook.com/freddie.arps/posts/10218771663616610
https://www.facebook.com/manicsquirrel/posts/10157629211617527
