In the early morning hours of July 20, 2019, the body of 29-year-old Derrick Denali Berries Stuckey, a Black transgender woman, was discovered on the side of a road in North Charleston, South Carolina. Initially, authorities responded to a report of a pedestrian possibly struck by a vehicle, but it was soon determined that Stuckey had been fatally shot. An investigation into her death as a homicide was immediately launched.
Friends and family remembered Stuckey as a free-spirited and outspoken individual with a nurturing and sweet personality. She was a native of Charleston and worked as a manicurist.
The investigation into Stuckey's murder led to a significant development when Dominick Archield, 34, of North Charleston, turned himself in to the police. A warrant had been issued for his arrest in connection with the killing. Archield, who was reportedly a former neighbor of Stuckey's, was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. According to an affidavit, Archield's car was parked near the Lovey Dovey Club on Carner Avenue on the morning of the incident. As Stuckey walked towards the club, Archield allegedly exited his 2013 White Dodge Charger and shot her multiple times in the face and upper torso without any apparent warning or provocation before driving away.
Following his surrender, a judge ordered that Dominick Archield be held without bail at the Charleston County jail while awaiting trial. While police investigated whether the murder was a hate crime, it was not officially classified as such. Law enforcement officials stated that if the ongoing investigation revealed a motive of hate or bias, they would take the necessary steps to see the case prosecuted accordingly. Stuckey's death was noted as one of several murders of transgender women in South Carolina that year, prompting calls for greater awareness and action to address the violence faced by the transgender community.
