The Michigan man who shot and killed Ashia Davis, a 34-year-old transgender woman, has agreed to plead guilty to second-degree murder and a felony firearm charge. The crimes carry a combined sentence of 17 to 30 years.

Carlos Lamar Scotland murdered Davis on June 1, 2023, at a Woodward Inn, and her body was found a day later. Scotland was 17 at the time.

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Gunman kills young Black trans woman on city sidewalk while her friends flee
Her family is now demanding that her murder be investigated as a hate crime… but her killer remains at large.

Scotland was arrested in March 2024, and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy charged him with first-degree murder as well as several other felony charges.

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Davis’ friend Julisa Abad spoke at the sentencing hearing about how she and other members of the local trans community went to the hotel where Davis was murdered and how they saw police bring out the body. Abad is the director of transgender advocacy at the Fair Michigan Justice Project.

“Most people’s memories of their loved ones are good memories,” Abad said. “The last memory that I have is seeing my friend on the floor outside of the hotel corner room with black streaming all over the floor.”

“Only two people were in that room that night and will ever know the true events of what happened,” she continued. “What we will know is that Ashia Davis was shot execution-style in the back of the head and left for dead.”

Abad called out Scotland for what she described as his “rude” behavior in court that showed he had no remorse for what he did.

“The sad reality is, particularly in the Black and brown community, men that are enamored with transwomen cannot be themselves and have to resort to loving us in private and killing us in public,” Abad said, noting that her friend was killed on the first day of Pride Month.

“She’s my only child,” Davis’ mother told local news after her daughter’s death. “She was just getting a job and went to school. I just don’t understand why this happened.”

“Ashia Davis was a beautiful human being who deserves at a minimum to be alive today, sharing her cheerful spirit with us,” the Human Rights Campaign’s Tori Cooper said. “During Pride Month and every other month, we’re faced with yet another tragic reminder that as Black trans women, we are under attack in this country. Anti-trans rhetoric and stigma perpetuate this violence. It’s beyond unacceptable that not nearly enough of those in power have spoken out against this inhumanity. We continue to call for justice — for Ashia and for all those we’ve lost without sufficient answers.”

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