MTV's True Life Crime Investigates Death of Dallas Trans Woman

Muhlaysia Booker

The latest episode of the series focuses on Muhlaysia Booker, who was shot to death just a month after being attacked by a mob at her apartment complex.

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

August 03 2021 2:21 PM EST

May 31 2023 4:41 PM EST

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The newest episode of MTV's True Life Crime will examine the death of Dallas transgender woman Muhlaysia Booker, who was fatally shot just a month after surviving a mob assault.

Booker, 23, was killed in May 2019. The previous month, she was attacked by a crowd of people on the grounds of her apartment complex following a minor traffic accident. The attack was captured on video that went viral.

The episode, airing Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern, includes interviews with Booker's mother, Stephanie Houston, who created the trans-supportive Muhlaysia Booker Foundation in her daughter's memory; Ahmad Goree, president of the foundation's board; staffers from the Dallas Voice, the local LGBTQ+ newspaper; and more. Award-winning journalist Dometi Pongo is host of the series, which focuses on young people who have died under mysterious circumstances.

Booker was one of at least 21 trans people to die by violence in the U.S. in 2019, with most of the victims being women of color. The number more than doubled -- to 44 -- in 2020, and this year is on track to exceed that. There are likely many more victims each year who go uncounted because of misgendering and deadnaming by police and local media. But by any measure, there is an epidemic of violence against trans Americans, especially Black and Latinx women.