Photo courtesy of Jahaira DeAlto/ Instagram.
Boston’s LGBTQ community is in mourning after transgender rights activist Jahaira DeAlto and another woman were killed last week.
DeAlto, 42, died after she was stabbed in the neck by 35-year-old Marcus Chavis, according to a statement from the Suffolk County District Attorney. Fatima Yasin, Chavis’ 28-year-old wife, was also stabbed in her neck. After he killed the women, Chavis dialed 911 and told the dispatcher he stabbed his wife. The couple’s children were in the apartment during the stabbings, but they were not harmed.
“Responding officers arrived at the Taft Street building where Mr. Chavis, Ms. Yasin and two children resided with Ms. DeAlto and encountered Mr. Chavis in the front entrance,” stated the district attorney’s office. “His clothing had blood on it, prosecutors said. Inside the apartment, officers were met by the two young children, who were present in the home at the time of the murders.”
A dog was also stabbed during the massacre, but it survived and was treated at a local animal hospital. Chavis has been charged with two counts of murder and one count of animal cruelty. He is being held without bail.
DeAlto made her name as an activist and ballroom legend in Boston, reported Out Magazine. She was a member of the famed House of Balenciaga and walked in the realness category. One of her house members remembered her as an advocate against intimate partner violence.
“The House of Balenciaga regretfully acknowledges the death/murder of our own Jahaira M. DeAlto, a community advocate and friend to many,” Harold Balenciaga wrote to Facebook. “Let us not forget her ongoing work against domestic abuse and continue to uplift her name and ensure her memory lives on in this ironic twist of fate.”
DeAlto’s death is the 21st reported killing of a transgender person in 2021. She is also the seventh transgender woman of color to be murdered in a month. Last year was the deadliest year on record for transgender people with 44 documented slayings in 2020, per The Human Rights Commission.
Rest in peace, Jahaira.