Taya Ashton should still be here. But nearly four years after her life was tragically cut short in a horrifying act of transphobic violence, her killer will now spend nearly five decades behind bars.
The tragic incident is a stark reminder that attacks on the LGBTQ+ community are still painfully relevant in 2025.
In 2024, DeAllen Price, 29, was sentenced to 60 years in prison, with 12 years suspended, for the 2021 murder of 20-year-old Ashton in her Maryland apartment. Prosecutors revealed that Price was in a relationship with Ashton and fatally shot her after discovering she was transgender.
Assistant State’s Attorney Sherrie Waldrup called Price’s courtroom admission “chilling,” as he confessed to murdering Ashton upon learning her trans identity during an intimate encounter.
The case sparked national outrage and drew renewed attention to the dangers Black transgender women face in the U.S., particularly in the wake of rising anti-trans rhetoric, policy rollbacks, and hate crimes. LGBTQ+ advocacy groups continue to cite Ashton’s murder as part of a larger pattern of violence targeting trans women of color.
“Taya was just at the beginning of her life — a life that she deserved to live to its fullest,” said Lindsey Clark, associate director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initiative, shortly after the murder. “Black transgender women continue to be killed in this country, and this violence is unacceptable.”
Her death marked yet another entry on a growing list of transgender individuals lost to hate-fueled violence. According to recent data from LGBTQ+ rights organizations, Black transgender women remain disproportionately targeted, and justice through sentencing alone is not enough.
Since Ashton’s killing, LGBTQ+ leaders have pushed for stronger protective measures, including national policies addressing hate crimes, police accountability in missing persons cases, and education campaigns to dismantle anti-trans stigma.
As we reflect on Pride Month in 2025, Taya Ashton’s story remains a devastating example of the urgent need for cultural and systemic change. Her memory endures not just in the court record—but in every call for justice, dignity, and safety for trans lives.
