On September 23, 2016, 30-year-old Hason Amin Jazz Alford, a Black transgender woman, was found fatally shot in her room at the Kings Inn hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. Her body was discovered by housekeeping staff, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Alford, who was originally from North Carolina, was initially misgendered in early media reports, but her sister, who is also transgender, corrected the public record.
The investigation into Alford's death led authorities to Denzell
Thomas, who was 23 years old at the time. He became a suspect in Alford's murder after he was arrested for the shooting and home invasion of another transgender woman in Birmingham that occurred on a Monday in October 2016. This second victim survived the attack.
In June 2019, Denzell Thomas pleaded guilty to the murder of Hason 'Jazz' Alford and the attempted murder of the other victim. Authorities stated that Thomas targeted his victims because they were 'transgender and vulnerable.' He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the crimes. Family members of Alford had considered her death a hate crime. Her sister remembered her as a 'loving person' and stated that her death was a 'huge hit for the LGBT community.'
