Update: Feb. 21, 2018

After authorities in Jacksonville Florida identify transgender murder victim Celine Walker by her deadname earlier this month, the transgender advocacy group T.A.P. (Transgender Awareness Project) is calling for policy change in the way transgender people are identified by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department.  Spokesman Christian Hancock of the Jacksonville sheriff’s department told us “We identify a murder victim based on their legal name and the biological sex” rather than “people who dress as the opposite sex.”  Spokesman Christian continued “there is terminology out there but I’m not familiar with it.”

Celine Walker was found shot to death in the Extended Stay America motel near the St. Johns Town Center on February 4th, 2018. Policy by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department.  To not identify murder victims as transgender hampers the authorities ability to solve these murders and properly notify the family of their loved one’s death

T.A.P and the Jacksonville community gathered at Friendship Fountain Saturday, February 10th to remember her life and to bring awareness to what they call misgendering of transgender people.

The Transgender Community Grieves as we Mourn the 4th Known Murder of a Trans Person this Year

In an on-camera interview with Florida Jacksonville News Station News4Jax4, Transactivist Paige Mahogany Parks says “I’m here to be the voice for her and all of the rest of the transgender women who don’t have a voice that have been murdered.”

London Gore, a transgender woman working at the Extended Stay America motel where Celine Walker was murdered says she has resigned over her fear that local authorities marginalize the lives of the transgender community and will fail to adequately protect her if called upon for assistance. Gore tells us “We’re human. We love like you love, hurt like you hurt, bleed like you bleed, the same color. We just want to be treated equally and to know our lives matter, to me anybody’s lives matter.”

February 4th, Jacksonville Florida report the shooting death of Celine Walker as the 4th confirmed transgender murder of 2018.

36 year old Celine Walker was brutally shot dead inside a room at Extended Stay America on Skinner Lake Drive. Jacksonville Police responded to a 911 call around 8pm.

Police and media originally misgendered Celine, hampering this investigation. This has since been corrected by police and local media.

Celine doesn’t have a permanent address listed but was originally from Brandon Florida.

Jacksonville is home to some of the most amazingly talented trans women. That being said you’d think Jacksonville would have a policy in place for dealing with the death and murder of trans people.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is now calling this a murder investigation. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500 or Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.