Updated as of 10/27/2023 at 1:15 p.m. ET
A South Carolina man pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in the murder investigation of a Black trans woman.
Pebbles LaDime “Dime” Doe was fatally shot back in 2019. Xavier Pinckney, 24, was charged in the killing after lying to the authorities about his interactions with the alleged shooter, Daqua Ritter, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of South Carolina. Pickney is accused of hiding the use of a phone to communicate with Ritter and also the fact he saw Ritter the morning of the shooting. It’s unclear if the two conspired in any way about Doe’s death.
The agency said Pickney faces 20 years in prison. Ritter, on the other hand, faces five federal charges including a hate crime enhancement.
Doe was the 15th trans woman murdered in 2019, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
“Hate has no place in South Carolina. The senseless murder of Dime Doe, and any act of violence against the LGBTQI+ community, confirms the need to confront hate in all its forms. Our office will continue to pursue justice for those impacted by bias-motivated crimes,” said South Carolina’s U.S. Attorney Adair Boroughs said in a statement.
What Happened?
Two South Carolina men were slammed with criminal charges in connection to the shooting and killing of a trans woman in 2019. One man faces life in prison on hate crime and obstruction offenses and the other faces 20 years for giving a false statement, per CBS News.
Doe was the second trans woman senselessly killed in the state of South Carolina in August of 2019. According to the Human Rights Coalition, Doe was found dead with gunshot wounds in a parked car. There are still details about the incident that have not been disclosed and no one is explaining why given it’s a 4-year-old case.
Doe’s family and the Alliance for Full Acceptance were the ones who first identified her as the victim.
Read the 2020 report from The Post and Courier:
Little information on the circumstances surrounding Doe’s death was available as of Thursday, and Allendale County law enforcement agencies declined to release basic information about the case.
Repeated requests to the Allendale County Coroner’s Office for the victim’s name, age and cause and manner of death were denied. When asked to explain why the information was being withheld, a Coroner’s Office representative said, “All I can say is I’m not releasing anything.”
The Allendale County Sheriff’s Office declined to release an incident report on Wednesday despite SLED clearing the report for release. A sheriff’s representative could not be reached Thursday.
Daqua Ritter, 26, was charged with a hate crime after prosecutors found his motive was “because of her actual and perceived gender identity,” announced the Department of Justice.
Doe’s family and friends remembered her as having a “bright personality” and being “the best to be around.” We’ve lost so many loving human beings all because someone failed to see them as just that - a human being. Gun violence exacerbated that issue, making Black trans women even more vulnerable of losing their lives, per Everytown for Gun Safety.
“Black trans women live at the intersection of multiple marginalized identities, are too often treated as disposable and are experiencing epidemic levels of violence,” said Chase Glenn, AFFA executive director, via The Post and Courier.