Courtney Eshay Key, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was tragically killed on December 25, 2020, in Chicago, IL. She was found dead on Christmas Day, shot in the head and dragged by a car. Her friends in the LGBTQ community believe it was a hate crime. Key was proud to be a trans woman and was always straightforward about it. She stayed close with her own family and her “Kors Family,” a group of South Side LGBTQ+ mentors and mentees.
On Christmas Day, they began to worry when Key went silent. Her location showed her near her mother’s house, where they knew she always spent the holiday. Then her location showed her at the Chicago police station on 111th Street, according to one of her mentors, Bryant Crawl, whom she called “Grandz.” Maybe she was arrested, he thought, so he went to the station. But the lockup didn’t have any record of her. He waited for news as he went to a friend’s home for Christmas dinner, then home to sleep. At midnight, a friend woke him up. Key was found dead. At 8:35 p.m. on Christmas, a patrol officer found Key lying in the street, bleeding from the head and with other injuries that indicated she had been dragged by a car, according to a police report. The officer called for an ambulance, and Key was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:50 p.m. in the 900 block of East 82nd Street, around the corner from her mom’s house in the East Chatham neighborhood, police said. Officers followed a blood trail to an alley about a block away, where Key’s purse and wig were found, the report said. One 9 mm shell casing was on the ground. An autopsy found she died from a gunshot wound to the head, and the Cook County medical examiner’s office ruled her death a homicide. Police sources say the motive is unclear, and no one has been taken into custody.
Courtney Eshay Key was trying to make several changes in her life before her fatal shooting in Chatham. She was shot in the head in the 900 block of East 82nd Street around 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 25, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Officers found Key in the street where she was pronounced dead. She was one of eight people killed in holiday weekend gun violence. Wade said she was disappointed that the Chicago Police Department and health professionals listed Key as a male, even though Key identified as a woman. She said it was an example of how transgender people are "shamed by society." Key’s family supported her and accepted that she was trans. But the family has no health insurance and is struggling to pay for her burial, Wade said, adding that Brave Space Alliance is helping with funeral costs. "It’s an endless cycle of people lacking resources, lacking insurance," Wade said. "It’s an endless cycle of perpetual violence and people without universal healthcare." Attempts to reach Key’s family were unsuccessful. No arrests have been announced in Key’s murder. At least 42 other transgender or gender non-conforming people have been murdered in the U.S. in 2020, according to the Human Rights Campaign. That’s the highest number of yearly murders the group has counted since it began tracking such crimes in 2013.
Courtney Eshay Key, a 25-year-old Black transgender woman, was killed on Christmas Day, and her family and friends spoke out Monday only to CBS 2. They told CBS 2's Tara Molina her homicide is a possible hate crime. She was listed as a John Doe, but Courtney "Eshay" Key's family said she had been misgendered – and on top of everything, it is an insult to her and her memory. Key was described by family and friends as the life of the party – hilarious and determined. "She wanted to be something," said lifelong friend Beverly Ross. "She wanted to beat the odds." Family and friends also have a problem with how Key has been described elsewhere. "We are human. We are real," Ross said. "We're tired of Chicago police misgendering trans people; gender non-conforming people." A trans woman, Key has been identified as both a man and a John Doe. "They're dehumanizing our character," Ross said. We asked Chicago Police about that and we were told, again, the victim is listed as a male. We were also told Area Two detectives are still investigating the homicide. Around 8:35 pm. Christmas Day night, police found Key's body on the south side of 82nd Street near Drexel Avenue. She was pronounced dead on the scene, police. At first, Key was believed to be the victim of a hit-and-run crash. But police later found she had suffered gunshot wounds. With only her family identifying her right now as they make funeral arrangements, we're told there is an important reason why they had to speak out. "I believe Eshay was targeted," Ross said. "We need to get to the bottom of this because Black trans lives matter. We are not going anywhere." According to the CPD, detectives late Monday continued to investigate Key's death as a homicide - but police wouldn't comment on the family's belief that this was a targeted hate crime. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office hasn't responded to our requests for more information.
