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NEW YORK, May 27, 2026 — Transgender people and allies gathered on a street corner outside a dollar store in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood on Wednesday night for a vigil held in honor of Eryka Caldwell, a 41-year-old trans woman who was fatally stabbed in a nearby apartment on May 17.
Organized by longtime activist Melinda Butterfield, the event included remarks from Taylor Brown, the trans director of New York City’s first-ever Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs; community resources provided by the New York City Anti-Violence Project; and a musical performance from singer-songwriter Vi Viana, who paid tribute to Caldwell with a cover of The Beatles’ “In My Life.”
In her opening comments, Butterfield noted that Caldwell’s death allegedly being the result of domestic violence does not make her any less worthy of being memorialized by the trans community. A boyfriend of Caldwell’s, 38-year-old Jonathan Fernandez, was arrested on the scene and subsequently charged with murder. Caldwell’s sister later told media that Eryka had previously hidden from Fernandez in domestic violence shelters.
“When we were organizing for tonight’s vigil, a few people asked me why the trans community would rally for Eryka, since she was a victim of domestic violence, not anti-trans violence,” Butterfield said, explaining that “domestic violence against women and femmes is epidemic in our society, and reason enough for us to gather.”
“But also, domestic violence and femicide can’t be divorced from the political and social reality of trans genocide,” she continued.
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Representing the newly formed Mayor’s Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs, Brown offered condolences on behalf of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling the “tragic and senseless loss” of Caldwell a “reminder of all the reasons why this office was created.” Brown noted that she feels a kinship with Caldwell, who celebrated graduating from Nebraska’s Bellevue University in January 2023 and who reportedly moved into her Bushwick apartment this March.
“I see so much of myself in Eryka,” she said. “I’m a biracial Black trans woman. I came from North Carolina to New York City. And in my journey here — pursuing education, pursuing gender-affirming care, looking for a place of safety and acceptance — I see so much of that in Eryka and what I’ve learned about her.”
Although Brown noted that her office is “still very much getting up and running,” she promised the Mamdani administration would “do everything in our power to make sure that this kind of violence is addressed,” citing programs affiliated with the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes and the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice.