Beauty and the Beast
(06.11.26) - Despite the disproportionate number of Trans people, specifically Black Trans women, that are murdered in the United States every year, justice is few and far between. When cis Black and Indigenous women, children and Two-Spirit go missing they barely get media attention. When Black Trans women are murdered and discarded, they are typically misgendered by police and media, their cases are barely investigated and cases go cold. There is no equity in life or justice in death. Tiny spots of lights sometime appear among a blanket of darkness when the precious life of a victim is honored by catching a killer.
This week, with speed rarely seen, Daniel Arnulfo Ceron, 22, was charged with murder in the death of Persia Amarra Conway after being arrested on Wednesday. Court documents allege Ceron beat Conway to death and left her near Bray’s Bayou. He is being held on $500,000 bond. Ceron is due to appear in a Houston courtroom on Friday morning. [KHOU 11]
Persia’s mother, Michelle Simmons who has been a vocal advocate for justice for her daughter posted to Facebook after the announcement of the arrest:
To the man accused of murdering my daughter, Daniel Ceron Jr.:
Because of you, I will never hear my daughter’s voice again. I will never receive another phone call from her. I will never watch her celebrate another birthday, chase another dream, or tell me she loves me. You robbed my family of something that can never be replaced.
My daughter, Persia Amarra Conway, was a human being. She was loved. She was someone’s child. She was my child.
The pain you have caused is beyond words. Every day I wake up to a nightmare that I cannot escape. Every day I am forced to face the reality that Persia is gone while you are still here to answer for what you are accused of doing.
What makes me angry is that you did not just take a life you shattered a family. You left a mother carrying a grief that no parent should ever have to bear. You left a community mourning a woman who deserved the chance to live her life fully and freely.
Know this: I am not going away. I will not be silenced. I will not allow Persia’s name to fade into the background. I will speak her name in every room, on every platform, and to every person willing to listen.
You may have thought you could take her from this world and that her story would end there. You were wrong.
My daughter’s name is Persia Amarra Conway. Her life mattered. Her legacy matters. And I will spend the rest of my days fighting to make sure justice is served.
I told everyone I would not be silent, and I meant it.
NOW YOU MONSTER YOU WILL ROT.
Also this week, Ajani Grimes, 19, accepted a plea deal for involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2025 death of Laura Schueler a well-known LGBTQ advocate in East Walnut Hills near Cincinnati [FOX 19]. He was sentenced to at least 25 years. Grimes shot Schueler as she ran away from his vehicle after cutting off his ankle monitor a month prior. At the time of the crime he was out on bond for felonious assault and armed robbery. Prosecutors say bullets fired in that robbery matched the ones that killed Schueler. Laura’s cousin, Geno Griffith said:
No sentence can restore the years, conversations, the celebrations that were taken from us, but Laura’s legacy will continue, her spirit will continue.
Unlike so many, their spirits will continue with justice. With any hope, it will also save the lives of other women and provide the friends and family left behind with some semblance of peace.