Her unsolved murder inspired Transgender Day of Remembrance
On a cold November evening in 1998, just two days before her 35th birthday, Rita Hester, a beloved African-American transgender woman, was found brutally murdered inside her first-floor apartment in Allston, Massachusetts. A neighbor reported hearing a disturbance and called the police. When officers arrived at the scene on November 28th, they found Hester still alive, having been stabbed 20 times. She was rushed to Beth Israel Hospital, where she ultimately died from cardiac arrest.
The initial investigation into the 34-year-old's death provided few answers. There were no signs of a forced entry, leading her friends and family to believe that Rita knew her attacker and had let them into her home. Despite evidence of a struggle, which included a phone being ripped from the wall and a partial shoe print that did not belong to her, the case quickly grew cold. For years, her family felt their pleas for justice were met with silence, and they have expressed their belief that the investigation was hampered by apathy because Rita was a Black transgender woman.
Over two decades have passed, and Rita Hester's murder remains unsolved, with no arrests ever made and no suspects publicly named. The case has cast a long shadow, highlighting the violence faced by transgender individuals, particularly transgender women of color. In the years since her death, the Boston Police Department has periodically renewed calls for public assistance and, as of late 2023, assigned a new detective to the case, reaffirming their commitment to finding the person or persons responsible for her death. Despite the passage of time, her family continues to seek closure and justice for a life cut tragically short.
