Police are investigating after 48-year-old trans person San Coleman was brutally murdered in Athens, Georgia, on October 19.
Athens-Clarke County Police were dispatched to a popular walking trail behind the University of Georgia’s Chicopee Complex, roughly a mile northeast of downtown Athens, at 9am on October 19 a passerby found Coleman critically injured and covered in blood.
While Coleman’s sister, Lakiesha Fleming, told 11 Alive (published in an article that misgenders Coleman) that “nobody would ever hurt [her],” Coleman’s death is presumed by police to have been a homicide perpetrated by someone walking their dog on the trail. Coleman’s phone was taken so she couldn’t call for help, and she died hours after being rushed to the hospital. Coleman’s family suspects that her LGBTQ identity may have played a role in her death.
Coleman’s identity has not been confirmed, as her family refers to her as a “gay man” with he/him pronouns, but Mutual Aid Athens noted in an Instagram post honoring her death that all photos of her online are of her presenting as a woman – and the reporters who have been covering her story have “very bad local track records with race and LGBTQ issues.”
“They took my best friend,” Fleming told 11 Alive. “[The person responsible is] going to pay for it, because I’m not going to let this go until the death of me. I promise you, I’m not.”
Coleman is survived by her mother, Mary E. Coleman; her three sisters Lakiesha Fleming, Titania Davenport, and Trina Slack; and her two brothers Eddie Bradford and Andre Upshaw. Her celebration of life was held on November 2 at the Chapel of Berstein Funeral Home in Athens.
Coleman is the 35th trans person whose death has been reported in 2024 and the third in Georgia, according to Pgh Lesbian Correspondents.
The Athens Clark County Police provided a statement to 11 Alive saying that detectives are investigating the circumstances of Coleman’s death and anyone with information should contact Detective Christina Bradshaw at christina.bradshaw@accgov.com or 762-400-7323.