Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

A shooting outside of a Target in Austin, Texas on August 11 claimed three lives, including a trans woman who was an employee. Also killed were a 4 year old girl and her grandfather. The shooter was a 32-year-old White male who offered no explanations for his actions.

The Crime

Rosa Martinez Machuca, a trans woman, was returning carts to the store. The shooter approached her and shot her. Nieneker then allegedly approached a family’s car, fatally shot the little girl and her grandfather, Adam Chow, and minorly wounded Adam Chow’s wife and stole their car, Sexton said.

Honoring Rosa

Born and raised in Austin, she had been working at Target since 2021. She was 24 at thetime of her death.

Machuca’s fiancée, Kim Dang, spoke to reporters about the woman she had loved since their teenage years. The two met in middle school and began dating in high school. Kim described Rosa as her constant source of joy, saying, “She’s like my sunshine; she’s always very bright.”

Kim explained that Rosa had been living as a transgender woman for several years and had long used the name Rosa Machuca, though she had not yet been able to update her legal documents. “That was her name. That’s who she was to me and to everyone who loved her,” Kim said to TransVitae.

After graduating high school in 2019, Machuca dropped out of the University of Texas at Austin. Dang said she needed to financially support her family. 

The Context

It is important to note that law enforcement and local media first misgendered and deadnamed Rosa. Her friends and trans advocates demanded a correction which police did make. But it is so very sad that this vigilance has to be part of the grieving process.

Rosa is the 12th trans person whose death has been reported in 2025. .She is the tenth trans woman. She is the second Latina and the tenth transgender person of color on our list.

Rosa’s family has set up a crowdfund, but it does deadname and misgender her.

Texas has seen a fair share of homicides. In 2024, Diamond Cherish Brigman. Dylan Gurley, Vanity Williams, In 2023, Maria Jose Rivera Rivera, Unidentified Person, and LaKendra Andrews.

Rest in power, Rosa. Your spirit lives in the lives of people who truly loved you. It is a terrible loss and a terrible situation.

May your memory be a revolution.

Deaths reported in 2025

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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.
11. JJ Godbey – June 19, 2025, Canton, Ohio. Age 26.
12. Rosa Martinez Machuca – August 11, 2025, Austin, Texas. Age 24.

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.