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Transgender Taxi Driver Gunned Down on the First Day of 2020

Dustin Parker, 25, leaves behind four children, a wife, and a legacy of LGBTQ activism.

Dustin Parker was a father, a husband, and an LGBTQ advocate. But he will be remembered as the first transgender homicide victim of 2020 after he was gunned down driving his taxi in McAlester, Oklahoma, early New Year’s Day.

The 25-year-old was shot to death near the 200 block of West Delaware early Wednesday morning, according to local station News on 6. Police reported that a witness called 911 after hearing gunshots. Investigators found Parker and several bullet holes in his taxi cab window. No arrests have been made yet.

Parker leaves behind four children, a wife, a legacy of LGBTQ activism, and a company that is publicly mourning him. He was a founding member of Oklahomans for Equality-McAlester Chapter: Southeastern Equality, a local LGBTQ group.

Leading up to New Year’s Eve, Parker had encouraged Facebook friends to take free taxi rides instead of drinking and driving.

“Rover Taxi is devastated at the loss of a member of our Rover family,” his company said in a statement. “Dustin was a steadfast friend, an amazing husband and father, and generous to a fault. He loved fiercely, worked tirelessly, and took on life with so much hope and enthusiasm that his presence brightened all of our lives.”

Advocates have held up Parker's death as emblematic of a growing crisis—not just of transgender murders in the U.S., but of gun deaths impacting marginalized communities. A recent analysis conducted by gun control group Everytown found that 74% of the nation’s transgender murder victims were gunned down.

The Oklahoma chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown, decried Parker’s death.

“Dustin Parker should still be alive,” said Hannah Parker, a volunteer with the organization, in a statement. “My heart goes out to his wife, to his four children, to his friends, to his fellow members of Oklahomans for Equality, and to every trans, non-binary, gender-nonconforming child and adult in this state who heard this news and felt a little less safe.”

Please note: This is a breaking story and will be updated with any new information.

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