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Trans Woman Kimberly Susan Fial, 55, Murdered in a Mass Stabbing in San Jose
Kimberly Fial is the 41st known trans or gendernonconforming person to be murdered in 2020 in the United States.
On November 22, 2020, a horrific crime took the life of 55-year-old white trans woman, Kimberly Susan Fial. She was volunteering at a local homeless shelter in Grace Baptist Church in San Jose, California when she and four other staff/volunteers were stabbed by a resident of the shelter. Kim and one other person died from their injuries, the other three victims survived.
The man who killed them was Fernando Jesus Lopez, 32, who is now in jail waiting trial. His weapon was a kitchen butcher knife. Lopez’ immigration status is being used as weapon to tighten immigration rules in sanctuary cities like San Jose, a turn of events that the pastor of Grace Baptist Church finds actually dishonors the memories of the departed.
Once upon a time, Kimberly Fial was a homeless person who stayed at Grace Baptist’s shelter. According to Planet Transgender:
Ms. Fial arrived at Grace Baptist Church as a shelter guest in the middle of the year, and almost as soon as she got there, she started pitching in to help staff however she could, said shelter manager Anthony…