Koko Da Doll, the star of the Sundance hit documentary Kokomo City, was found murdered in Atlanta on Tuesday. She was 35.
According to the Atlanta Police Department, on Tuesday at 10:42 pm, officers responded to reports of a woman shot in the Westhaven neighborhood of Atlanta and found the victim was not “alert, conscious or breathing.”
“Homicide investigators responded to the scene and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the statement, which did not explicitly name Koko, read.
Atlanta police said they are investigating after responding to a shooting on Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW on Tuesday evening.
“Upon arrival, officers located a female victim with an apparent gunshot wound,” authorities said. “She was not alert, conscious or breathing and pronounced deceased on scene by [the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department].
“the latest victim of violence against Black transgender women.”
Kokomo City director D. Smith mourned Koko, whose given name was Rasheeda Williams, In a statement posted to Instagram on Friday
Smith continued, “I created Kokomo City because I wanted to show the fun, humanized, natural side of Black trans women.”
“I wanted to create images that didn’t show the trauma or the statistics of murder of Transgender lives. I wanted to create something fresh and inspiring. I did that. We did that! But here we are again.”
“It’s extremely difficult to process Koko’s passing, but as a team we are more encouraged now than ever to inspire the world with her story. To show how beautiful and full of life she was. She will inspire generations to come and will never be forgotten.”
Authorities added that the Atlanta Police Department “is actively investigating three violent crimes involving transgender women this year.”
“While these individual incidents are not related, we are very aware of the epidemic-level violence that black and brown transgender women face in America.”
They pledged that “violent crimes are our top priority and our investigators are working hard on each case.”
