Popular transgender, Chyna Gibson shot dead in New Orleans

She's now the fifth transgender woman to be killed in 2017. Gibson was fatally shot in New Orleans on Saturday February 25, 2017 while she was in town celebrating Mardi Gras.

According to reports, multiple gunshots were heard at the 4300 block of Downman Road, outside of a shopping center around 8:30 p.m. Gibson was found between two parked cars and pronounced dead at the scene. 

Gibson was born Walter Flemming but was known widely as Gibson on and off stage. Her surprising dance moves and on-stage persona made her popular in local LGBTQ inner B/HAP (ball and house pageant) circles.

Texas advocacy group Black Trans Women, Inc., released a statement on Gibson. “Chyna Gibson had gone home to New Orleans to like thousands of other people, celebrate Mardi Gras and be with her family during that festive time. Instead, she was brutally murdered.  Shot ten times and left to die in the parking lot of a New Orleans strip mall. BTWI would like to express our condolences to Chyna’s family, friends and all who loved her.  She was well known in the pageant and ballroom community as Chyna Doll Dupree, and she will be missed.”