MILWAUKEE — As Milwaukee Police confirmed a suspect in the murder of Cashay Henderson had been arrested, her friends and many in the Milwaukee LGBTQ community gathered for a vigil.
"It's just horrifying to me to know that this could happen to her," said Henderson's friend Ladia Nanna.
Nanna considered Henderson a mentor.
"She was always just uplifting me, encouraging me."
The vigil at the LGBT center honored Henderson as well as two other transgender women that were murdered in Milwaukee in the last year, Brazil Johnson and Mya Allen.
As they shared stories and memories of their friends, they also shared their fears and anger.
"They go after groups like ours because they know we're under-protected and underserved and under-loved and cared for. It's an easy mark," Nanna said.
According to the UCLA Williams Institute, transgender people are four times as likely to be victims of violent crimes.
"I feel like it's targeted in a systemic way," said Elle Halo with Diverse and Resilient about the recent murders of transgender women in Milwaukee.
Halo also took issue with statements that came from police misgendering Henderson.
"Just as easy as it is for them to have a discriminatory policy, it could just as easy for them to have policies that would actually support us," Halo said.
But even amid their grief and fear, Halo and Nanna found reason to celebrate the arrest of a suspect.
"I was kind of overjoyed. It kind of changed the dynamic of what I was feeling in the moment," Nanna said. "I'm just so happy she's getting her justice."
However, Halo and Nanna also acknowledged that they're still waiting for an arrest to be made relating to Brazil Johnson's murder in June 2022.
The LGBT Center has resources available for those who may be struggling with the news of Henderson's murder. You can learn at mkelgbt.org.
