Black trans woman Cameron Thompson, 18, shot to death in Alabama

Cameron Jamal Miikquise Thompson, an 18-year-old Black transgender woman, was found shot to death Monday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

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A juvenile suspect has been charged with murder, but police are not releasing his name even though he is being charged as an adult, reports AL.com, a site for several Alabama newspapers.

“Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Capt. Jack Kennedy on Wednesday said the motive appears to be related to comments Thompson posted on social media regarding the suspect’s sexual orientation,” AL.com notes.

Thompson, who lived with her mother and teenage brother, left home about 1 a.m. Monday, taking only her cell phone with her. Her mother, a night shift worker, noticed around noon that Thompson’s purse and other items she’d usually take along were still in her room. After trying to reach her on her cell phone and getting only voice mail, the family called police about 4 p.m. and were told that a body had been found. Her mother identified her.

Thompson’s body was discovered about 1 p.m., and she had been shot several times early that morning, police said. Her family believes her murder was a hate crime.

She was a recent graduate of Job Corps and a UPS worker. “She was a very sweet person, very nice person, never met a stranger,’’ her aunt, Tara Matthews, told AL.com.

Matthews has started a GoFundMe campaign to help the family with burial expenses.

Thompson is at least the 31st^st trans, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming person to have died by violence in the U.S. this year. Most are Black women. In any year, the total is likely much higher than reported, as victims are often deadnamed or misgendered by police and media or their deaths not reported at all.