Tiffany Berry

Tiffany Berry, a twenty-one-year-old African American transgender woman, was shot and killed by D'Andre Blake, in Memphis, TN, on February 16, 2006.

Berry, born Ray, lived at the Camelot Manor Apartments in South Memphis. Her friends say that she stepped outside for some fresh air on February 16. About that time, neighbors hear five gunshots.¹⁾

Minutes later, Berry stumbled into the lobby of the apartment building, where she died moments later. She had been shot three times, in the chest. Investigators initially said the incident was a robbery gone bad, but Berry's friends believed it was a hate crime because she still had her purse as well as the items in it.²⁾

D'Andre Blake

D'Andre Blake, 20, was arrested and charged with second degree murder in Berry's death. Blake was scheduled to go to trial for Berry's murder in December 2007, but that trial date was pushed back by the court and has not been rescheduled.³⁾

According to Blake's family, Blake admitted that he had killed Berry because he did not like the way she had “touched” him. ⁴⁾ Berry's mother, DeAndra Swift, said she was told that Blake had tried to rob Berry in order to buy diapers for his infant daughter.

On July 28, 2008, at about 6:41 p.m., police received a call about child in distress at 1264 Turkey Run. When they arrived, they learned that the child — two-year-old Dre-Ona Blake — had been taken to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.⁵⁾

Blake told emergency crews at the site that the child had started choking after eating a bologna sandwich.⁶⁾ But officers at the hospital reported that she appeared to have suffered blunt force trauma. Her body was covered with multiple wounds, bruises, and trauma. The cause of death was ruled to be blunt force trauma. An investigation revealed Blake struck his daughter several times while trying to potty-train her.⁷⁾

Blak was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of his two-year-old daughter.⁸⁾

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