(MILWAUKEE, Wis) — A suspect was arrested Tuesday and charged in the death of Cashay Henderson, a 31-year-old Black transgender woman who was found shot dead in her apartment in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, last month.
Firefighters were responding to a fire in her apartment when she was found unconscious with gunshot wounds, according to the criminal complaint. The cause of the fire was arson, officials said. Henderson was the fourth known transgender woman to be killed in Milwaukee in the past year.
Cordell M. Howze was charged with “first degree reckless homicide, habitual criminality repeater, use of a dangerous weapon” as well as “possession of a firearm by a felon,” according to the criminal compliant.
In the aftermath of her death, Henderson’s family and the local LGBTQ community are balancing both grief and anger. Her sister, Ada Henderson, joined ABC News Live’s Trevor Ault to share her reaction to the arrest and talk about who her sister was as a person.
TREVOR AULT: Ada, thank you for being here and our sincere condolences for your loss. I just, first of all, want to get your reaction to the arrest, to the charges today.
ADA HENDERSON: Well, I’m glad that they found him and we got justice for our family.
AULT: I mean, I can only imagine the amount of anger and devastation after what happened. Have authorities told you anything about the suspect?
HENDERSON: No.
AULT: Tell us a little bit about Cashay. Who was she as a person?
HENDERSON: She was a very outgoing person. Cashay was fabulous. She had a big heart. She loved children. She liked to have fun. She was always happy. You know, her life ended so soon.
AULT: Well, I know that Cashay is the fourth known transgender woman to be killed in Milwaukee just in the past year. None of those crimes have been designated as hate crimes yet. Is there a threat to people like Cashay in the city?
HENDERSON: I mean, I guess. I can’t really speak on that because I don’t know too much about that community, so I can’t really speak on that. It’s a sad thing that’s happening to the people from their community. And, you know, I just hope everybody gets justice.
AULT: And I know that the arrest has been made. Are you confident that you’ll be able to get a conviction here? What are what are authorities telling you?
HENDERSON: I’m praying. I’m praying. Because I really don’t know much. And it was an ongoing investigation. So it was really, you know, a lot of details have not been released.
AULT: There has been a lot of heated discussion about people like your sister across America. What do you think that Americans should know about Cashay?
HENDERSON: That Cashay was human. She was like everyone else. She was a loving person. And I don’t see the difference in between the people from that community and the other people.
AULT: All right, Ada Henderson, thank you so much for your time.
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