Anti-trans murderer makes history as first convicted under federal hate crime law

Author: Greg Owen

Convicted killer Daqua Lameek Ritter was sentenced to life in prison following a guilty verdict in the death of Pebbles LaDime “Dime” Doe, a 24-year-old Black transgender South Carolina woman who Ritter was in a relationship with.

“Every day is a struggle,” Doe’s mother, Debra Saab, said at Ritter’s sentencing. “He shouldn’t get to see the light of day.”

A jury found Ritter guilty on all charges in February for what Clarke called the “heinous and tragic murder” of Doe.

“His crime was motivated by his anger at being mocked for having a sexual relationship with a transgender woman,” prosecutors wrote in court documents introduced during trial. Ritter’s girlfriend called him an anti-gay slur, they believe, which made him “extremely upset.”

Prosecutors said Ritter lied to police about his whereabouts at the time of the killing and got people to help him burn his clothes and hide his weapon as he fled South Carolina for New York.

Video of a traffic stop placed Ritter in Doe’s car just hours before she was killed, along with DNA evidence. Several witnesses said Ritter told them that he killed her.

“He was afraid, shooken up” when he confessed to killing Doe, Ritter’s cousin said during the trial. The cousin said that Ritter asked him to keep the murder a secret and was mad that Doe wouldn’t delete a picture of him from her phone.

A friend of Ritter’s, present when he was burning his clothes after the murder, testified Ritter said, “Nobody gonna have to worry about [Doe] anymore.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign, 27 transgender people have been killed so far in 2024 — 48% were Black transgender women, and 63% were killed with a gun.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Don’t forget to share:

Actual Story on LGBTQ Nation
Author: Greg Owen