A South Carolina man has been sentenced to life in prison in connection to the 2019 murder of a Black transgender woman, per CNN.
Daqua Lameek Ritter was convicted in February of one hate crime count, one federal firearms count, and one obstruction count for murdering Dime Doe.
During Ritter’s trial in February, prosecutors accused him of being upset over “rumors about his sexual relationship” with Doe, the Justice Department said in a statement at the time.
The department said Ritter lured Doe to a remote area in Allendale, about 80 miles outside of Columbia, in August 2019 and shot her in the head three times.
Ritter’s “sentencing is a culmination of hard work and dedication to the pursuit of justice for Dime Doe,” FBI Criminal Investigative Division Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough said in a statement.
“This sentencing sends a clear message — the Justice Department vigorously defends the civil rights of every American,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “We will use all the resources at our disposal to safeguard the rights of the LGBTQI+ community, and we will investigate and prosecute perpetrators of transphobic-fueled violence in our country.”
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