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On Oct. 17, South Carolina resident Daqua Lameek Ritter was sentenced to life in prison for the December 2019 murder of Dime Doe, a Black transgender woman from Allendale, South Carolina, according to a Department of Justice release.
On Feb. 24, a jury convicted Ritter of all charges in the indictment, which included one hate crime count, one federal firearms count and one obstruction count—all connected to the murder of the victim, Dime Doe.
Trial evidence revealed that Ritter was upset that rumors about his sexual relationship with Doe were out in the community. On Aug. 4, 2019, the defendant lured Doe to a remote area in Allendale and shot her three times in the head. At trial, the government proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Ritter murdered Doe because of her gender identity.
This was the first guilty verdict in a trial under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (Shepard-Byrd Act) for violence against a transgender person.
“Bias-motivated violence has no place in our society. With today’s sentencing, the defendant is being held accountable for the senseless murder of Dime Doe, a transgender woman of color,” said Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “We hope that the verdict and sentence in this case provides Ms. Doe’s loved ones with some sense of comfort and demonstrates that the Justice Department will vigorously prosecute those who commit violent acts of hate against the LGBTQI+ community.”
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