Itali Marlowe Set Her Sights on a Fresh Start
She hoped moving to Houston would be liberating
This story is part of Know Their Names, a collection of articles illuminating and celebrating the lives of Black Trans women.
Houston is not where Itali Marlowe grew up, but it was the place she set out to make a home. It is seemingly where she moved when she came of age and where she lived her truth as a proud Trans woman.
Little is known about the 29-year-old Itali. Even in reporting this story, it was difficult to gain insight into the life she lived or a true sense of the life she wanted. But what seems apparent is that Houston is where she leaned into her self-determination during her formative years. In some ways, Itali hoped Texas could be liberating.
Black Trans activist Dee Dee Watters didn’t know Itali personally, but says it was her understanding that Itali moved to Houston for a fresh start and to get away from a contentious family situation.
Though Texas leads the nation in Transgender murders, with at least 16 known killings in the past five years — including at least four Black Trans women killed in the state this year — it is still a home for many in the Trans community. Even with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community in Houston, the state lacks protections for Trans people, making the community even more vulnerable: The state’s hate crime statute does not cover gender identity, and Houston repealed its nondiscrimination ordinance after a citywide vote in November 2015.
On September 20, Itali was killed in Ridgemont, a small neighborhood in Houston that extends into Fort Bend County. According to Monica Roberts, a Texas-based Transgender rights advocate and creator of the TransGriot blog, police officers responded to a shooting call to find Itali lying in the driveway of a Houston residence, having been shot multiple times. She was then taken to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead.
“I was in charge of the call to action after Itali’s death,” Dee Dee recalls. “It was difficult to find her loved ones, because it seemed like she didn’t have many in Houston. The funeral service had already happened by the time I found out about her death, and then her body was shipped out of state to be with her family.”
Even with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community in Houston, the state lacks protections for Trans people, making the community even more vulnerable.
Police have charged 23-year-old Raymond Donald Williams, who was living with Itali at the time, for the murder. Witnesses say they saw Williams fleeing the scene of the crime on foot, and no one could find him for several weeks after Itali’s death. Police later apprehended Williams.
The exact nature of Williams’ relationship to Itali is unclear. According to Dee Dee, the police initially marked Itali’s death as a case of intimate partner violence, but this was never confirmed. Intimate partner violence has had a profound effect on many communities but has been particularly relevant to the Transgender community as of late, especially given the recent murder of Tracy Single in Houston.
“Rest in Power, Itali,” Monica wrote on her blog, before the suspect was apprehended. “We won’t rest until this perpetrator is caught, prosecuted, and incarcerated for your murder.”
