Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

Hope Lyca Youngblood was 49 years old when she was killed in vehicular incident in Los Angeles on June 7, 2025. Hope identified as a trans woman.

[They were] struck and killed Saturday by multiple vehicles near a freeway offramp to the Santa Monica (10) Freeway in the Palms community of Los Angeles, authorities said.The crash occurred about 6:10 a.m. on the eastbound freeway, at the La Cienega Boulevard offramp, according to the California Highway Patrol.The victim, who was wearing a black shirt and blue shorts, had been sitting on top of the center divider. They were struck by multiple vehicles, the CHP said.

MyLA

Sadly, reporting in Los Angeles misgendered Hope. Her family does not.

The fact that Hope did not have her ID on her delayed notification of her family.

I’ve been mulling over Hope’s death – clearly violent, but was it an accident? I came across the California Highway Patrol’s log of that morning. It seems conflicting reports on whether Hope was trying to cross the highway or standing on the divider, or perhaps both? It does suggest one vehicle who struck her stopped to call first responders, remaining on the scene. So that driver didn’t commit a criminal act, but what about the others of the “multiple vehicles” -did they stop? Does it matter?

Yes, it matters. When you hit a human body with your car, you stop. You answer questions. You learn the name of the person so you can carry them forward with you when you are next behind the wheel.

And now maybe you find out how to get someone sitting on a divider safely across the road.

Honoring Hope

According to her obituary, she was born May 16, 1976 in Mayfield, Kentucky, Hope attended Mayfield High School and Murray State University. She was an avid record collector, a talented visual artist and writer, and a gifted musician.

Her brother shared on Facebook that Hope was diagnosed with schizophrenia and manic depression at the age of 17, and the illnesses have been part of her life ever since. A few days before the accident, she was released from a psychiatric facility of her own volition, against the recommendations of the facility. The family believe she was having an episode when the accident occurred. His original post has more details.

And I love this for Hope. Her brother wrote

“She was an avid record collector, a talented visual artist and writer, an absolute shredder on guitar, a cigar connoisseur, and a proud trans woman. We ask that you respect Hope’s name and pronouns. Her trans identity was one of the few things that brought her joy and peace in the last few years. We will make another announcement when funeral arrangements have been arranged.”

In a very rare discovery, I learned that Hope has produced a short film in 2017. I’m embedding it because it is as close as we can get to her voice now. Content note – police visual/audio.

The respect and care her family has for her gender identity is comforting and hopefully moves the bar higher for other families. Hope’s tragedy was not being able to manage her illness to keep herself safe, or at least that’s what we can discern from the available information. She’s not a trope, nor a statistic.

Context

Hope is the tenth trans person whose death has been reported in 2025. She is the eighth trans woman and the first white trans person. This means 90% of violent deaths among trans folx reported in 2025 to date include BIPOC folx.

At 49, Hope is the oldest trans person on our list for 2025.

Hope is the second trans woman who has died in Los Angeles this year. Linda Becerra Moran was killed in February. In 2024, we documented the violent deaths of Meraxes Medina (24), Michelle Henry (25), and Paris Rich Jessup (22). In 2023, our list included Banko Brown (24), Thaddeus ‘Tad’ Keegan Bradley (age unknown), DéVonnie J’Rae Johnson (27) and Kylie Monali (age unknown). Also in 2023, we recorded the violent death of Zachee Imanitwitaho (28) in Kentucky. Back in 2022, our list included Cherry Bush (48) and 27 year old Day Rodas from California. Looking back to 2021, Rayanna Pardo (26) Natalia Smüt Lopez (24), Poe Black / Oliver Jackson  (21), and Nikai David (33) were on our lists from Californiam while Cris Blehar (65) was killed in Kentucky. In 20220, Marilyn Cazares (22) and Kimberly Fial (55) were killed in California.

Rest in power, Hope. You deserved a safe world to explore your creativity and bring more joy/understanding to the world. We’ll likely never know why you decided to cross a freeway and can only hope you have found peace. It is our obligation to your memory to continue the work to protect all trans folx.

May your memory be a revolution.

Deaths reported in 2025

1. Tahiry ‘Tokyo’ Broom – February 9, 2025. Detroit, Michigan. Age 29.
2. Sam Nordquist – February 2025. Canandaigua, New York. Age 24.
3. Amyri Dior – February 21, 2025. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Age 23.
4. Ervianna ‘Baydee’ Johnsonn – February 19, 2025. Tabor City, North Carolina. Age 25.
5. Linda Becerra Moran – February 27, 2025. Los Angeles, California. Age 30.
6. Kaitoria ‘Kai’ Le’Cynthia Bankz – March 31, 2025. Autaugaville, Alabama. Age 31.
7. Kelsey Elem – April 24, 2025. St. Louis, Missouri. Age 25.
8. Shy’Parius Dupree – May 19, 2025. Memphis, Tennessee. Age 32.
9. Laura Schueler – June 7, 2025. Cincinnati, Ohio. Age 47.
10. Hope Lyca Youngblood – June 7, 2025, Los Angeles, California. Age 49.

Other deaths I’ve reported during 2025

• Elisa Rae Shupe – January 27, 2025. Syracuse, New York. Age 61.
• Chilendrina Gracia Dominguez – January 18, 2021. Reported February 2025. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Age 42.
• Amira O’Neill – July 6, 2023. Ann Arbor, Michigan. Age 44.
• Jay Lee – July 8, 2022. Oxford, Mississippi. Age 20.