Local
Gay man murdered in D.C. apartment
Police say surveillance camera captured ‘person of interest’
D.C. Police Capt. Michael Farish said Delando King was found unconscious and stabbed in his apartment shortly after 6 p.m. Monday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
A 34-year-old gay man who was found stabbed to death in his D.C. apartment Monday night was last seen by friends leaving a gay bar over the weekend, said the city police homicide squad’s supervisor.
Capt. Michael Farish told reporters at a news briefing Tuesday that police discovered the victim, Delando King, unconscious and suffering from stab wounds in his apartment along the 1100 block of 10th Street, N.W., shortly after 6 p.m. Monday.
A separate police statement said police and a D.C. Fire & Emergency Medical Services crew rushed to the scene in response to an emergency call.
“Upon arriving on the scene they discovered a male victim unresponsive and suffering from apparent stab wounds; he was subsequently pronounced dead,” said the statement.
Farish confirmed the location as an apartment in a high-rise building at 1117 10th Street, N.W.
A surveillance camera at the building captured video footage of King entering the building with an unidentified male guest, Farish said. He noted the surveillance video also shows the unidentified man leaving the building a short time later carrying a bag that he did not have when he entered the building with King.
He said police planned to release photo images of the unidentified man taken from the video. Farish described the unidentified man as a “person of interest” rather than a suspect until investigators gather more information about the circumstances surrounding the case.
“We know two of the clubs [the victim] was at,” said Farish. “We’re looking for the public’s assistance if they saw him in another club.”
According to Farish, King was out with friends at the two clubs police have identified.
“They were able to give us a timeline as to when he left,” he said. “It’s after 12:30 Sunday morning where it becomes a little sketchy as to where he was and where he may have met somebody else. So if anyone knows Mr. King or if he was a regular anywhere, we’re definitely looking for the public’s assistance in identifying that, especially if they saw him in the company of anybody.”
Farish declined to identify the clubs that King patronized with friends in the hours before his death, saying investigators would rather have members of the community come forward with the names of places King may have visited that investigators don’t know about.
But one source familiar with the case said King had patronized the gay club Fuego on Friday night and early Saturday morning. Fuego, which caters to the LGBT Latino community, operates only on Friday nights and rents space at a non-gay club at 1818 New York Ave., N.E.
The owner of the Fuego nightclub venue could not be immediately reached.
King’s death comes one week after D.C. police released an alert to the LGBT community noting that five separate attacks against men are being investigated. All five attacks occurred in the city between June 2 and July 30 and are believed to be motivated by anti-gay bias.
The alert said that while police were examining the cases for possible similarities, they had yet to confirm whether they cases were related or whether any two or more of the assaults were committed by the same perpetrators.
Farish said homicide detectives investigating King’s murder were aware of the separate incidents, but don’t believe they are linked to King’s death.
“What we’re dealing with in this incident has no indication of being related to those incidents,” he said.
King worked for the federal government as an employee of the U.S. Indian Health Service, which is an arm of the Department of Health & Human Services.
“We at the Indian Health Service are very saddened to learn of the death of our colleague Dalando King, who was a member of the Navajo Nation,” the IHS said in a statement released Tuesday.
“Mr. King was a dedicated employee and a friend to many in the Washington area American Indian community. We extend our deep condolences to Mr. King’s family,” the statement says.
Virginia
Black transgender woman murdered in Va.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray killed in Petersburg on March 13
A Black transgender woman was murdered in Petersburg, Va., on March 13.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray, who was also known as Mable, was a drag queen who won the Miss Mayflower EOY pageant in 2015. Reports also indicate she was a well-known community activist in Virginia and in North Carolina.
Local media reports indicate police officers found Sanchez-McCray, 42, shot to death inside a home in Petersburg. These initial media reports also misgendered her.
“My heart is shattered and heavy with grief at the news of Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray’s murder — the first trans life stolen from us this year,” said Victoria Kirby York, director of public policy and programs for the National Black Justice Coalition, in a statement.
Kirby York in her statement also criticized the media coverage of Sanchez-McCray’s murder.
“The early reports of Shyyell’s death stripped her of her identity by misgendering her, a deeply damaging and persistent failure by law enforcement and media that haunts these cases again and again,” she said. “Misgendering doesn’t just erase a person’s truth — it can derail justice entirely, or worse, bury a case in silence as investigators chase the wrong identity, the wrong face, the wrong name.”
Authorities have not made any arrests.
The Petersburg Bureau of Police has asked anyone with information about Sanchez-McCray’s murder to call Petersburg-Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212.
District of Columbia
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Rally on the National Mall scheduled for Saturday
The Christopher Street Project has a number of events planned for the 2026 Trans Day of Visibility, including a rally on the Mall and an “Empowerment Ball” at the Eaton Hotel. Plenaries, panel discussions and meetings with members of Congress are scheduled in the three days of programming.
Announced speakers include N.H. state Rep. Alice Wade; Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Precious Brady-Davis; activist and performer Miss Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”); Lexington, Ky. Councilwoman Emma Curtis; Rabbi Abby Stein; D.C. activist and host Rayceen Pendarvis; Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland; among other leaders, advocates and performers.
Conference programming on Thursday and Friday includes an educational forum and a Capitol Hill policy education day. Registration for the two-day conference has closed.
The “Trans Day of Visibility PAC Reception” is scheduled for Thursday, March 26 from 7:30-9 p.m. at As You Are (500 8th St., S.E.). Special guests include Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). Tickets are available at christopherstreetproject.org starting at $25.
The National Council of Jewish Women and the Christopher Street Project host a “Trans Day of Visibility Shabbat” on Friday, March 27 from 7-8 p.m. at Sixth & I (600 I St., N.W.). The service is to be led by Rabbi Jenna Shaw and Rabbi Abby Stein.
The “Now You See Me: Trans Empowerment Social & Ball” is scheduled for Friday, March 27 from 6-11 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K. St., N.W.). The trans-themed drag ball is hosted by the Marsha P. Johnson Institute with support from the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, the Capital Ballroom Council, the Christopher Street Project, the Center for Black Equity, Generation for Common Good, and Parenting is Political. RSVP online at christopherstreetproject.org.
The National Transgender Day of Visibility Rally is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 on the National Mall at 11 a.m. The rally will include speakers and performances. Following the rally, attendees are encouraged to participate in the “No Kings” rally being held at Anacostia Park.
Virginia
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
Voters in November will consider repealing marriage amendment
The Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ended on March 14.
Lawmakers have yet to approve a budget, but they did pass a resolution that paves the way for a referendum on whether to repeal the state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Lawmakers also advanced House Bill 60, which would protect PrEP users from insurance discrimination.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has until April 13 to decide to pass, amend, or veto legislation before it goes back to the House of Delegates on April 22.
Spanberger on Feb. 6 signed the bill that sets the stage for the marriage amendment referendum. Voters will consider whether to “remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?”
Equality Virginia has been working during this legislative cycle to urge lawmakers to allocate funding towards LGBTQ rights. The budget would expand funding for schools, competency training for the 988 suicide hotline, and funding to provide gender affirming care to LGBTQ youth.
“As the budget moves through conference and the Reconvene Session approaches on April 22, Equality Virginia remains focused on ensuring our victories this session translate into durable protections,” Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Progress on marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections, and HIV care funding was essential, but Virginia must do more.”
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