Brandy Martell - photo by Tiffany Woods. Friends of a transgender woman shot to death in Oakland believe she was killed because of her gender identity. Brandy Martell, 37, was killed in the early hours of last Sunday morning, California time, as she car with three transgender women friends. The motive of the killing was unclear, but police have told the Oakland Tribune that a hate crime is a possible motive. Tiffany Woods, Massey’s former supervisor at the Tri-City Health Center in Fremont, said the friends were hanging out in the car when they were approached by two men. When Martell and her friends told the men they were transgender, the men left. Later, the men returned and shot Martell, Woods told the San Francisco Chronicle. No one else in the car was injured. The men "could have just said they weren’t cool with it and walked away," Woods said. "But they decided to come back and engage in quick and violent confrontation."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 6th May 2012 - 7:48pm