Transgender prostitute slain in Memphis shadows

[Natasha]

Transgender prostitute slain in Memphis shadows

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/354/story/705198.html
WOODY BAIRD - Associated Press Writer
12/5/2008

It took a bloody jailhouse beating by police to bring Duanna Johnson out of the shadows.

With a video of the beating making the rounds on the Internet, people who would never have known she existed - and likely paid her little mind if they did - were suddenly talking about her.

Angry residents sent letters to the local newspaper and a federal grand jury launched an investigation. The mayor and police chief voiced outrage at her treatment.

But it wasn't long before Johnson, a 43-year-old, 6-foot-5 transgender prostitute, slipped out of the spotlight and back to working the dark streets of a tough inner-city neighborhood, little noticed once again by mainstream Memphis.

And there she died with a bullet in her brain.