Man who murdered 20-year-old Black trans woman Taya Ashton sentenced to 48 years in prison

The 29-year-old man who murdered Taya Ashton, a 20-year-old Black transgender woman, received a 48-year prison sentence this week.

According to the Washington Post, DeAllen Price of Capitol Heights, Maryland, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence in October. His sentence was handed down on Wednesday.

Related: Trans woman Taya Ashton killed in her own apartment

“Taya was just at the beginning of her life – a life that she deserved to live to its fullest.”

Price, who was reportedly in a relationship with Ashton, shot and killed her in her Suitland, Maryland, apartment on July 17, 2021, after learning that she was transgender.

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“Taya’s death was a real tragedy for our community, as well as for her family. Her death represents so much more, in terms of our level of tolerance in our community for people who want to express themselves and live their lives on their own terms,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy said on Wednesday. “Anyone who chooses to do that should be respected and [know] that their lives are as valuable as anyone else’s life.”

Ashton was one of 46 trans and gender non-conforming victims of fatal violence whose names were read by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) during a speech marking the Transgender Day of Remembrance on the House floor in November 2021.

“We have been robbed of 46 souls – disproportionately Black and latinx trans women, and these are only the ones that have been properly reported,” Pressley said.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, 2021 saw at least 47 transgender and gender non-conforming people die by violence in the U.S. Last year, the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization reported at least 32 such deaths, with people of color accounting for 84 percent of victims and Black trans women accounting for 50 percent.

Notably, 36 percent of trans and gender nonconforming victims last year were killed by people they knew, including romantic or sexual partners, friends, or family members. Similarly, a 2021 Washington Post report found that nearly half of all transgender women killed between 2015 and 2020 were killed by intimate partners.

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