Three transgender women have been shot to death since February in Jacksonville, Fla., and community activists there say they believe the shootings are the work of a serial killer.

Celine Walker, 36, was found shot to death inside a hotel room on Feb. 4; Antash’a English, 38, was found wounded between two abandoned houses on June 1 and later died at a hospital, and Cathalina Christina James, 24, was found shot to death at a hotel last Sunday, June 24.

The fourth victim, who was not publicly identified, was shot five times on June 8 but survived.

According to NBCNews.com, local activists say they believe the survivor was a victim of a domestic abuse, and that the attack on her is not related to the other shootings. However a press release from Equality Florida, dated June 26, says that all four cases remain unsolved.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating the three killings as separate cases and released a statement saying that at this point it has no reason to believe that the murders are related. NBC News reports.

But the city’s trans community isn’t buying it. Not only do activists believe the murders are the work of one person, they say that by continuing to misgender the victims, law enforcement is not only being disrespectful, but possibly hampering the investigation, too. Read more via Dallas Voice

update July 24, 2018

Sasha Garden, 27-year-old transgender woman, killed in Orlando

Sasha Garden, a 27-year-old transgender woman, was found dead in Orlando on Thursday morning. Her death marks the fourth reported homicide of a trans woman so far this year in Florida.

In Jacksonville, Florida, three trans women of color, Celine Walker, Antonia English and Cathalina Christina James, were killed this year — a disturbing trend that led one local LGBTQ advocacy group to express concerns that a “serial killer” might be targeting the trans community in the city.

In Orlando, where Garden was killed, friends remembered her vibrant personality. “She was a very outgoing person, very outspoken,” Mulan Montrese Williams, who knew Garden, told local outlet WESH. “It’s sad we can’t live our life just like anyone else without looking over our shoulder to make sure no one is going to hurt us because of who we are. ... This world can be very cruel, and it can be very cruel to us trans girls.”

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating Garden’s death, initially misgendered her in a press release — for which Orange Country Sheriff Jerry Demings later apologized. In a statement released on Saturday, Demings wrote that law enforcement initially “did not know the individual was transgender.” Read more via mic