Tee Arnold Dies Four Days after Shooting; Seventh Known Trans Person Murdered this Year

Source: Facebook

Florida resident Tee Arnold posted to social media that he was a marked man; not long after, he was shot in the town of Hallandale Beach, reportedly by a female suspect who remains at large.

Four days later, Arnold, 36, died in the hospital. His death marks the seventh known slaying of a gender-nonconforming person this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, which tracks lethal violence targeting trans and gender-nonconforming people.

"According to authorities, officers responded to the 800 block of Silks Run near Strike 10 Bowling after receiving reports about a shooting around 1:30 a.m. April 3," local news station Local 10 reported.

"Hallandale Beach police Capt. Aaron Smith told Local 10 News reporter Rosh Lowe that he believes the shooting is considered to be an 'isolated incident' and not related to a hate crime," the news station relayed.

"Tee, also known as Lagend Billions, was more than just a name," Equality Florida said in a Facebook post. "According to friends and family, Tee was a beacon of light and a source of unwavering support for those around him."

Equality Florida quoted a post from friend CeCe Gates, who recalled, "A New mom... scared asf... you was there for me when I was still figuring out life... I never thought I would be saying goodbye like this... I'm going to miss you 💔."

It seems that Arnold knew in advance that he was in danger.

"In a Facebook post on the night of April 1, just over 24 hours before the shooting, Arnold wrote that someone had placed 'a reward on [his] head' and said they wanted to kill him," LGBTQ+ culture site "them" reported.

Further details are not known at this time.

"Tee is at least the seventh transgender or gender-expansive person to lose their life to fatal violence in 2024," the HRC noted, "and the fourth to lose their life in the last month alone."

"He is at least the third transgender man killed in 2024, with trans men now accounting for more than four in ten (43%) of victims identified this year."

"We say 'at least,'" the HRC report added, "because, far too often, these deaths are underreported or misreported."

The HRC report also noted that while "Tee is the first trans or gender-expansive person to be killed in Florida this year.... he is at least the 32nd trans or gender-expansive person killed in the state since HRC began tracking fatal violence in 2013, making Florida home to the second highest number of fatal violence cases out of all states."

"As of this writing, almost one in ten of all victims identified in the last eleven years were killed in Florida," the report added.