Trans Businesswoman Shot to Death While Being Treated in Ambulance

Before her brazen murder, Monika Diamond was a prominent woman in her North Carolina community.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

March 24 2020 2:29 PM EST

May 31 2023 6:15 PM EST

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Monika Diamond, a 34-year-old transgender activist and business operator, was shot to death last week in Charlotte, N.C., while being treated in an ambulance.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg County police answered a call early Wednesday morning to a disturbance at a Days Inn, local station WBTV reports. In the parking lot, they encountered a group of five or six people, one of whom, Diamond, was experiencing shortness of breath. An ambulance was called, and paramedics began treating Diamond in the vehicle.

Diamond asked for a friend to come into the ambulance with her, and a man identified as Prentice Bess, 32, tried to enter it but was turned away, as no one is allowed in ambulances except the paramedics and the person being treated. He left briefly, then returned and shot Diamond several times, according to police. Paramedics tried to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Bess was arrested and charged with murder.

Diamond was the founder and co-owner of Ncphyne Promotion Co., an event marketing company, according to the Human Rights Campaign. She was also co-CEO of the International Mother of the Year Pageantry System, which honors LGBTQ mothers.

"Through her work, Diamond spent her adult life creating community and spaces for LGBTQ people in Charlotte and beyond to come together and celebrate their lives," HRC notes in a blog post. "She was a chosen mother to countless. She was a business owner, a loving friend and she did not deserve to have her life taken from her."