In a landmark case which authorities say marks the first time anyone was found guilty by a jury for a hate crime against a transgender person in federal court, a man in South Carolina has been sentenced to life behind bars for the 2019 murder of Dime Doe, a transgender Black woman.
Following a four-day trial in February 2024 in which Daqua Lameek Ritter was found guiltyof hate crime, firearms and obstruction charges, a judge returned a life sentence on Thursday, Oct. 17.
“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.”
Clarke called Doe’s killing “heinous and tragic.”
At trial earlier this year, federal prosecutors presented text and social media messages showing that Ritter had become upset about rumors regarding his sexual relationship with Doe, according to an FBI press release. As a result, on Aug. 4, 2019, Ritter “lured Doe to a remote area in Allendale, S.C., and shot her three times in the head.”
Afterward, the FBI says that Ritter burned his own clothes, discarded the gun and then “repeatedly” lied to law enforcement about his involvement in Doe’s killing.
The first federal hate crime trial based on gender identity was held at the Matthew J. Perry, Jr. Courthouse in Columbia, S.C. in February 2024. The jury returned an all guilty verdict.
AP Photo/James Pollard
The historic case was the first trial held under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which, signed into law in 2009, enables federal criminal prosecution of hate crimes motivated by someone’s actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.
A FBI Columbia lead case agent, who was not identified by name in the press release, said in a statement that “the jury’s verdict appeared to indicate that ‘but for’ the fact that Doe was transgender, the defendant would not have killed her.”
“In America,” Clarke said in a statement. “Trans and gender non-conforming people deserve to live their lives free from violence based on who they are and who they love.”
