Police have charged a 20-year-old man with the murder of Merci Mack Richey, a Black transgender woman shot and killed in Dallas on the last day of Pride Month. The North Texas Fugitive Task Force arrested Angelo Walker on Wednesday. He appeared in court on Thursday, charged with murder and breaking probation for a past aggravated robbery. No attorney is listed for him. Richey, 22, was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in a parking lot in the Stone Crest apartments in South Dallas at 6:15 a.m. on June 30, 2020. According to the arrest affidavit, a witness came forward to say he saw Walker "chasing a woman through the parking lot firing a handgun at her" around 5 a.m. The witness, who was not named out of fear of retaliation, knew Walker and recognized the ski mask he often wore. “He observed him stand over her and fire multiple shots at her as she was on the ground,” investigators wrote. 

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On her Facebook, Mack shared that she liked baking cookies at home. She loved relaxing in the jacuzzi. Recently, she posted about how excited she was to return to her job at a local restaurant, which had been closed due to COVID-19. Mack’s loved ones have taken to social media to mourn her death, calling her “beautiful” and “friend.” The arrest affidavit by investigators said Walker and Richey had had an "altercation" about a video of the two of them that she planned to release. Richey posted on her Facebook on June 29: "Brand new video on my private snap in jusssst a minute y’all have to see how nasty I got with this n****!" 

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A friend of hers, Dolly Part, posted on Facebook that Richey and Walker had known each other since they were kids and that he used to bully her. 

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"I’m so creeped out this man TEASED my bestie for being gay in middle school whole time he really had a crush on her that’s sick you tried to cover your dirt !" she wrote. "You seen her before she transitioned you weren’t tricked it makes sense now you liked my bestie since we were kids then turned around & took her life we can’t get her back over some dumb ass shit !!" 

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In recent weeks a vigil and a balloon release have been held to celebrate Richey's life and show support for Black trans lives.  

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This case is still open. 

 

What can we do? 

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1. Share Merci Macks story 

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2. Sign the petition demanding justice for Merci Mack:

http://chng.it/4BqdqfnmJG

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​3. Sign the petition demanding for the protection of Black Trans Women:

https://www.change.org/p/human-rights-campaign-protect-black-trans-women