Black Trans Woman Pooh Johnson, 25, Murdered in Shreveport, Louisiana
Her name was Pooh Johnson. She was 25-years-old and was an accomplished makeup artist with a glamour centered business Titanizer Mua.
On Monday, August 23, she was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds inside a vehicle shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the 300 Block of West 74th Street in Shreveport, which is located in the northwestern part of Louisiana, according to Gay City News.
Police are investigating and have not ruled out anti-trans bias as a motive or factor in her death.
Shreveport police ask that anyone with information about Johnson’s death call detectives at (318) 673–7300 or (318) 673–6955. Tips can also be sent to Caddo-Shreveport Crime Stoppers at (318) 673–7373, CSCrimeStoppers.org, or the P3 Tips app. Crime Stoppers will pay up to $2,000 for information that leads to arrests.
Viewing will be Friday, September 3 10am-5pm at Benevolent Funeral Home. There will be no viewing at the cemetery. Graveside burial service is on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021, 0:00 a.m. at Sheppard St. Cemetery in Minden, La. A balloon release was held on August 27. Note that the funeral home and her family use Pooh’s deadname and male pronouns.
Pooh is the thirty-fifth trans, nonbinary or gender nonconforming person reported killed in 2021. Thirty-two of these neighbors have been BIPOC. She is the 26th victim who identified as Black. In total, there have been thirty-five murders or suspicious deaths in the first 235 days of 2021, an average of one death every 6.7 days. 23 of these victims were under the age of 30. That we know of as many deaths go unreported or unacknowledged.
74% of the victims in 2021 have been Black. 66% have been under the age of 30.
Rest in power, Pooh. Your life was filled with beauty, spice, and style as well as friends who loved you dearly. You deserved better — we did not take care of you or keep you safe. Resisting the bigotry and violence that took your life is our life’s work.
May your memory be a revolution.
Our list of transgender, gender, and non-binary neighbors lost to violence in 2021. Please do not copy or share this list without attribution.
