“We Will Say Her Name”: The Life and Killing of Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray—and the Uncounted Crisis Behind the Numbers

A Life of Presence, Power, and Community

Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray was more than a headline.

She was a performer. A community builder. A voice that refused to stay quiet.

Known affectionately as “Mable” among friends and chosen family, Sanchez-McCray built her life in both Virginia and North Carolina through drag performance, pageantry, and grassroots activism. She was a fixture in the Charlotte Black Pride pageant circuit, earning titles including Miss Mayflower EOY (2015) and Miss Charlotte FFI-at-Large (2020).

But her impact extended far beyond the stage.

In 2023, she joined a boycott of a Charlotte LGBTQ+ bar after allegations of racism against Black patrons—putting her voice on the line not just for queer rights, but for racial justice within queer spaces themselves.

She lived at the intersection of identities—and she fought for all of them.

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The Night of March 13

On March 13, 2026, Sanchez-McCray was found dead in a home in Petersburg, Virginia, after suffering multiple gunshot wounds. She was 42 years old.

Police entered through what was described as an “unsecured door” and discovered her body at the scene.

Details remain limited. No clear public updates on suspects or motive have been released as of this writing.

And almost immediately, something else happened.

She was misgendered.

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Misgendered in Death

Early reports from police and media outlets referred to Sanchez-McCray incorrectly—using language that erased her identity in the very first public telling of her death.

This is not a small mistake.

It is a pattern.

Misgendering in police reports and media coverage has long been identified by advocates as a major barrier to accurately tracking violence against transgender people. When victims are recorded under the wrong gender:

• Their deaths may not be counted in official statistics
• Their identities may never be corrected
• Their stories may disappear entirely

In Sanchez-McCray’s case, her community stepped in—correcting the record, reclaiming her name, and ensuring she would be remembered properly.

But not every victim has that.

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“First of the Year”—Or First We Know About?

Sanchez-McCray is currently recognized as the first confirmed transgender homicide victim of 2026.

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But that designation comes with an uncomfortable truth:

We don’t actually know if she was the first.

Advocates warn that misreporting, deadnaming, and systemic data gaps mean other trans victims may already exist in 2026 statistics—but remain unrecognized.

As one tracking group noted, misgendering can “obfuscate” deaths, effectively erasing victims from public record.

So the question becomes:

How many names are we missing?

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A Pattern That Has Not Slowed

The broader context is stark.

In 2025:

• At least 27 transgender people were killed in the United States
• A majority were Black trans women
• Firearms were the most common cause of death

These numbers are already considered undercounts.

Sanchez-McCray’s death does not exist in isolation—it sits within a pattern of violence shaped by:

• Transphobia
• Racism
• Economic marginalization
• Systemic neglect

And critically, a failure of institutions to document these deaths accurately

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Remembering Mable

In the days following her death, tributes poured in.

Friends, fellow performers, and community members remembered her as:

• A force on stage
• A mentor and promoter
• A woman who showed up for others

Drag performer Kennedy Davenport wrote simply:

“I will certainly miss you my sister.”

Her funeral is scheduled for March 27 in Petersburg, where her community will gather—not just to mourn, but to remember her fully.

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Final Thought: Say Her Name—And Count Her Life

Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray should not be remembered only as:

• “The first case of 2026”
• A statistic
• A headline

She should be remembered as a whole person.

But honoring her also means confronting the system that failed her—even in death.

Because when victims are misgendered:

• Justice becomes harder to pursue
• Violence becomes easier to ignore
• And entire lives risk being erased from history

So we say her name.

And we ask the harder question:

Who else haven’t we counted yet?

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