In Historic Verdict, S.C. Man Gets Payback For the Horrible Thing He Did To His Trans Girlfriend

The murder of Dime Doe was the first of its kind to ever be federally tried in the U.S.

22 Oct 2024, 16:36 by Phenix S Halley · The Root

Screenshot: Facebook, WJBF

Earlier this year, The Root reported on Daqua Lameek Ritter after he was found guilty of the murder of Dime Doe, a transgender woman. Now, he has just been sentenced in the first hate crime case to ever reach federal courts in the United States.

“This sentencing sends a clear message — the Justice Department vigorously defends the civil rights of every American,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said. “We will use all the resources at our disposal to safeguard the rights of the LGBTQI+ community, and we will investigate and prosecute perpetrators of transphobic-fueled violence in our country.”

According to officials, Ritter and Doe were engaged in a romantic relationship, but rumors began circulating about the nature of their “secret” intimate entanglement. So, on Aug. 4, 2019, Ritter “lured Doe to a remote area in Allendale, S.C., and shot her three times in the head,” according to the FBI.

The FBI also said Ritter burned his clothes, discarded the murder weapon and “repeatedly” lied to law enforcement about his involvement in Doe’s murder. Once the truth was revealed, Ritter was charged with Doe’s murder and remained behind bars until his February trial, where he was found guilty on all charges.

The case against Ritter marked a landmark case in this country. Until now, no hate crime case against a trans person had ever been federally tried in the U.S., according to CNN.

Ritter’s guilty verdict and sentencing comes in the height of historic levels of violence against transgender people, particularly against people of color. In 2024 alone, at least 27 transgender and gender-expansive people were violently killed because of their gender identity, according to data from the Human Rights Campaign obtained by CNN. Of those, 74 percent were people of color, and 48 percent were Black transgender women.

This case is also the first guilty verdict under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was passed after the unrelated murders of Shepard, a gay student in Wyoming, and Byrd, a Black father of three in Texas, in 1998. Under this act, the federal definition of hate crimes was expanded to include disability, gender identity and sexual orientation.

“We want members of the LGBTQIA+ community to feel heard and to feel comfortable being who they are,” FBI Civil Rights Unit Supervisory Special Agent Anthony Snead, Jr. said. “Because no one should be victimized for being who they are.”

In Historic Verdict, S.C. Man Gets Payback For the Horrible Thing He Did To His Trans Girlfriend

The murder of Dime Doe was the first of its kind to ever be federally tried in the U.S.

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