A 17-year-old trans woman has been shot dead in Georgia – becoming the 14th trans person killed in the US since the turn of the year. Ava Le’Ray Barrin was killed following an alleged altercation in the car park of Riverview Apartments, a building on the edge of Athens.

Athens-Clarke police spokesman Epifanio Rodriguez told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that 21-year-old Jalen Breon Brown took out a gun and shot Barrin. Police responding to the incident found Barrin at the scene not breathing, having sustained a single gunshot wound to the side of the chest. On arrival at a local hospital, Barrin was pronounced dead.

A heartbreaking obituary by friends of Barrin remembers her as “an adored and loved young soul” who “lost her life to a tragic act of violence that could have been avoided”.

“I’m writing this obituary as a sort of final send off to a young lady who was and will remain my beautiful angel,” it read. “A girl who gave me the strength and the courage to find myself; who I was meant to be, and what I loved to do in life. Read more via Pink News