Baltimore Lost Another Doll. The City Mourns Sophie Lee Less Than Three Months After the Murder of Asia Williams

(Baltimore, MD) - In the early morning hours of September 11, NBC affiliate WBALTV 11 reported the discovery of the body of a young Black Transgender woman who had been shot in an alley and was found in an intersection in the area of North Calvert Street near East 24th Street. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Though there was no official identification, community leaders identified her as twenty-seven year old, Sophie Lee.

Baltimore Non-profit organization, Baltimore Safe Haven (BSH), held a vigil for Sophie who had been a program participant and friend to many on staff on September 13th. Social media was flooded with love for Lee and remembrances from Ballroom and beyond. BSH posted a GoFundMe to cover burial expenses that states,

Before you see transgender, see someone’s baby.

My name was Sophie.

On September 11, 2026, I was gunned down near 24th & Calvert Streets in Baltimore. A life that should have had decades left was suddenly over.

Now, instead of planning my future, my loved ones are planning my funeral.

Imagine being the mother who once picked out her baby’s first outfit—and now has to choose what her child will wear for the last time.

That pain has no gender.

A mother’s tears don’t fall differently because her child was transgender. A family doesn’t hurt less because their loved one was different.

When you bury your child, you bury a piece of yourself.

Transgender people know what it feels like to be stared at, rejected, threatened, left behind, or afraid simply for existing.

But we still dream.

We still love.

We still belong to somebody.

Sophie deserved another birthday. Another laugh. Another chance to fall in love. She deserved to grow old.

Please help us give Sophie the homegoing she deserves. Donate if you can. If you can’t, share her name until the nation hears it.

SOPHIE WAS SOMEBODY’S CHILD.

SOPHIE WAS LOVED.

SOPHIE DESERVED TO LIVE.

AND SOPHIE SHOULD STILL BE HERE.

The devastation over the loss of Sophie is only compounded by the fact that less than three months ago, Asia Williams was murdered in an attempted robbery on York Rd. in Baltimore when caught in a shooting at a store.

Black Trans women are hunted in the United States of America. If their lives aren’t aren’t taken through hate filled violence, its a domestic partner or simply intentional separation from services needed for a safe, whole and equitable existence.

In 2026, Blaque/OUT Magazine has reported on 17 murders of Trans people in the United States. 11 of them were Black, 15 were women. To learn more and to read their stories, visit https://www.blaqueout.com/traii.