Man accused of killing transgender woman in upstate New York found guilty

A man accused of killing a Black transgender woman in upstate New York last year has been found guilty.

The Times Union reports that 27-year-old Iaeir Robinson was convicted last Thursday of second-degree murder in the May 2022 death of 30-year-old Ahsid Hemingway-Powell. Hemingway-Powell also went by the name Chanelika Y’Ella Dior Hemingway, one source noted. She also reportedly went by the nicknames of Sid or Cyd. While prosecutors referred to Hemingway-Powell using she/her pronouns, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents describes “Ahsid Hemingway-Powell” as her “deadname” — it’s unclear which name she personally went by.

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Robinson was found guilty of shooting Hemingway-Powell in the head in her Albany, New York apartment sometime between the afternoon of May 27 and the morning of May 28, 2022, according to the Times Union. He reportedly believed that he had contracted HIV from her, but while both Robinson and Hemingway-Powell were HIV-positive, prosecutors said that it is unknown how either of them contracted the virus.

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Robinson faces 25 years to life in prison for the murder. Sentencing has been scheduled for January 2024.

Assistant district attorney Ariel Fallon, the case’s lead prosecutor, said that while the trial had focused for weeks on Robinson’s crime, Fallon wanted to “shift the spotlight away from his heinous actions and redirect it toward the beautiful soul we lost.”

“She had so much to offer this city, from the LGBTQ+ community and beyond,” Fallon said. “Sid will be sorely missed, and I hope today’s verdict brings some sense of closure to her loved ones.”

According to Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, Hemingway-Powell had just turned 30 at the beginning of May 2022. She had also recently graduated from the University at Albany with a degree in biology and had received the 2022 Spellman Academic Achievement Award, an award that recognizes the accomplishments of undergraduates of African, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American descent.

“She was a really loving person,” Amir Powell, Hemingway-Powell’s brother told WNYT in August 2022. “She wouldn’t ever hurt anyone. She had so many ambitions and goals and her life was just starting when things were just getting good. It’s just really hurtful for everyone.”

Hemingway-Powell was at least the 15th transgender or gender-nonconforming person to die by violence in 2022, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which also notes that many such deaths go unreported or misreported. In total, at least 41 transgender and gender non-conforming people died by violence last year.

This year, the HRC has tracked at least 26 transgender and gender non-conforming people who have died by violence in the U.S. According to the LGBTQ+ rights organization, 88% of those killed in the U.S. this year were people of color, with Black trans women accounting for over half (54%) of all deaths.

The National Center for Transgender Equality recently launched an online memorial site to honor trans and non-binary people who died from violence in 2023.