Who was Riah Milton?

 

Riah Milton loved traveling and being outside, her mother said. She described her daughter as outgoing, helpful and someone who always put her family first. Including Mary Ann, Riah Milton had three sisters and two brothers. "She just wanted to be accepted for who she was," Tracey Milton said. Eden Estes, 28, who describes Mary Ann as "like a little sister," has reached out to multiple media outlets hoping to correct Milton's name and pronouns in public reports. "It's just a complete disrespect to the gender, and especially black trans women, who are dying at very high levels right now," Estes said. 

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What happened to her?

 

On June 9th, the Butler County Sheriff's Office said they responded to a dead body found in Liberty Township. Investigators later discovered that Milton had been shot and killed during a robbery, after a 14-year-old girl and two men "lured" Milton to the Liberty Township area in an attempt to steal her car. Milton was 25. It is not reported as a hate crime by officers. "Although the Sheriff’s Office is sensitive to these matters we have reported the victim as a male," Peters' statement reads. "During the Detective Division’s investigation the victim’s parents referred to him as their son. OHLEG (Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, an information network for police) has the victim listed as a male as well as the Coroner’s report." However, Milton's birth mother Tracey Milton acknowledged her child as a transgender woman in a Friday interview with The Enquirer. Tracey Milton said she did not raise Mary Ann or Riah Milton, but became a part of their lives after the women turned 18. 

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What can we do? 

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1. Sign the petition demanding justice for Riah Milton:

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2. Sign the human rights campaign demanding for the protection of black trans women: