Trans Woman Nedra Sequence Morris Found Dead in Florida

Transgender woman Nedra Sequence Morris, 50, was found dead in a pool of blood Saturday on a street in Opa-locka, Fla.

Morris's family said she was shot in the head at another location and her body dumped there, South Florida TV station WTVJ reports. Miami-Dade County police have not confirmed this and have released few details about the case.

Morris's friends and family, who called her Sequence, held a vigil at the site where she was found, with about 100 people attending. "We pray that God speaks to us, we don't go out with a vengeance, that we know justice will be served," a cousin told attendees, according to WTVJ.

An aunt of Morris's, identified by the station only as Juanita, said her niece had encountered some hostility for being trans. Juanita said she hoped that wasn't the motivation for the killer. "I pray to God nobody was that ignorant this time and day," she said.

Another relative at the vigil said killings like Morris's "hurt the whole LGBTQ community."

Police are continuing to investigate and are looking for a 2017 Jaguar F-PACE that was seen leaving the scene of the crime. They ask that anyone with information call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at (305) 471-TIPS; callers have the option of remaining anonymous.

Morris is at least the 14th trans, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming American to have died by violence this year, after 2021 saw a record 57 such deaths reported. There are likely many more, given that police or media often misgender or deadname victims, or their deaths are not reported at all.