MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The mother of a Black teenager who was fatally shot in Alabama this week said she believes her daughter was killed because of her transgender identity.
Cameron Thompson, 18, was shot several times just after midnight on Monday, and her body was found that afternoon a few blocks from her home, according to Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Captain Jack Kennedy.
The suspect and victim knew each other, according to Kennedy. Authorities reviewed Thompson's online activity and found that she had posted on social media about the suspect's sexual orientation before she was killed. Police have not revealed any details about these posts or the nature of their acquaintance.
The suspect is under 18 but is charged as an adult with Thompson's murder. Under state law protecting the identity of juvenile defendants, other details have not been disclosed.
Thompson's mother, Nikki Matthews-Cunningham, 37, believes that the shooting was motivated by Thompson's identity.
"Of course" it was a hate crime, she told The Associated Press on Thursday. If it was a non-transgender girl who "said something about him on social media, he wouldn´t have lured her out of her home and killed her. But because my child was transgender, that´s why he did it."
"I hate this happened to her, all because of her choice of wanting to be who she was. That´s the only reason she is dead," she said.
The legal definition of a hate crime varies widely across different states. Alabama is one of nine states that don't recognize sexual orientation, gender or gender identity in the legal classification of a hate crime, according to the Department of Justice. Thirty-two states include sexual orientation in their hate crime definition. Only 15 include gender identity.
Thompson is the second known transgender person to be fatally shot this year in Alabama, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The first was Tayy Thomas, a 17-year-old Black transgender teenager shot in Mobile, Alabama in May. The man charged with Thomas' death is described by her family as a long-term romantic partner, according to AL.com.
At least 36 transgender people have died from violence over a 12-month period ending in November, the Human Rights Campaign said in its annual report, released on the Transgender Day of Remembrance. More than half were Black transgender women.
"Cameron´s death is not just a profound loss for her family and loved ones - it is a heartbreaking and unjust loss for the entire transgender community in Alabama and beyond," said Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey, the campaign's Alabama director. "Her life mattered. Her dreams, her light, and her limitless potential were stolen far too soon. Law enforcement must conduct a thorough, transparent investigation and find some measure of justice for Cameron´s loved ones."
Thompson was intelligent and ambitious, and "lit up a room when she walked in," her mother said. She had planned to attend college and move to New York City.
"She was just starting her life," Matthews-Cunningham said.
Thompson earned her high school diploma this year through an alternative jobs training program. She transferred there after classmates and some staff at her public school complained about her using the women´s restroom and refused to use pronouns that aligned with her gender identity, Matthews-Cunningham said.
"She struggled with people not wanting to accept her for who she was. But she was such a good person," Matthews-Cunningham said.
Safiyah Riddle is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.