MILWAUKEE — Police are searching for a man accused of killing a transgender woman in Milwaukee. The suspect, 31-year-old Clayton Hubbird, is accused of shooting and killing 35-year-old Regina Allen last week near 26th and Wells. Allen is better known to friends as Mya.
Police say Mya and Hubbird met at a gas station near 19th and National. Later that night, security video captured Hubbird dropping Mya off near 26th and Wells. As Mya walked towards an apartment complex she was shot.
A witness told police he heard Mya yell, "I'm shot."
According to the criminal complaint, Mya was able to call the police. When officers arrived on the scene, she was awake and able to speak. Officers said she "appeared to be in significant pain," and they administered first aid while seeking more information from Mya about the suspected shooter.
Mya told officers that "she had been shot by a white male, approximately 30 years of age with brown hair," and "the shooter drove a black Tahoe that had a child seat in the back."
Mya later died at the hospital as a result of her injuries. A motive has not yet been determined.
Now, more than a week later, a memorial of flowers, photos, and notes remains on the block where Mya lived and on the spot where she was killed.
Alex Corona, Director of Community Programs at Diverse and Resilient, said Mya's loss was "devastating."
Although Corona didn't know her personally, she said the community is close and they had mutual friends.
"It has like a really heavy effect on me, and all of us here in Milwaukee and trans people everywhere," Corona said. "It's hard to continue just like doing community work when we are losing people, specifically Black trans women, again and again."
According to the Human Rights Campaign, 2021 saw at least 50 transgender people violently killed across the country. That was a record-breaking number. So far this year, 28 transgender people have been violently killed.
Earlier this year in Milwaukee, another transgender woman, Brazil Johnson, was shot and killed.
"It's really sad that it comes down to this kind of revel as someone being trans as being a reason to murder them, and that people finding out that you were with a trans person is so devastating that you would rather kill them," Corona said about violence towards trans women.
Corona said Diverse and Resilient is working to build up its anti-violence program. In the meantime, they do have mental health resources available for anyone grieving Mya's loss.
