A South Carolina man has been sentenced to life in federal prison for the killing of a Black transgender woman, following the revelation of their secret sexual relationship. Daqua Lameek Ritter received his sentence from U.S. District Judge Sherri A. Lydon in a federal court in Columbia. Ritter’s conviction marked the first instance in the nation of someone being found guilty of a murder based on gender identity. The case involved the shooting death of Dime Doe in 2019, for which Ritter was convicted of a hate crime.
After the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Adair Ford Boroughs spoke to reporters outside the courthouse, praising Dime Doe as a courageous woman who deserved to live and love without fear of losing her life. Prosecutors had pushed for a life sentence without the possibility of parole, citing federal sentencing guidelines. On the other hand, Ritter’s defence team sought a sentence that would eventually allow Ritter to be released from prison, claiming there was no evidence of premeditation in the killing. They submitted letters requesting mercy from Ritter’s family members, including his mother, sister, grandmother, and two young children.
The court heard that Ritter fatally shot Doe with a .22 caliber handgun as rumours about their relationship began to circulate in the small town of Allendale. Friends of Doe testified that she had openly started her social transition as a woman after high school, changing her appearance and behaviours. While it was known in the community that she was romantically involved with Ritter, he urged her to keep their relationship discreet and deleted numerous text messages exchanged between them.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence showing that Ritter had denied seeing Doe on the day of her death, despite video footage from a traffic stop revealing his presence alongside her hours before her body was found. Although there was no physical evidence directly linking Ritter to the crime, his intimate relationship with Doe and other circumstantial evidence painted a compelling narrative for the prosecution.
Ritter’s co-defendant, Xavier Pinckney, received a separate sentence of three years and nine months for misleading investigators in relation to Doe’s murder. This case represents a significant milestone in federal hate crime prosecution involving gender identity, as such cases have not gone to trial previously. Another example cited was the sentencing of a Mississippi man in 2017 as part of a plea deal for the killing of a transgender woman.