There has been a significant controversy surrounding the death of local transwoman Nizah Morris, who was murdered in December 2002 in Center City. Since her death, her family and local activists have sought to find out who murdered Nizah to no avail. The PGN recently released a story in their paper, 1/25-1/31/08, page 8, stating that the police now claim that her entire police file has been lost. This information came out earlier this month during proceedings in Common Pleas Court with Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan presiding. This development adds to the suspicion and controversy set forth by community members surrounding the Philadelphia Police’s handling of the case. Some believe that she may have been killed by a police officer. According to this report released by the Police Advisory Commission in October 2007, they concluded that “based on the evidence before the Commission, we find that the Police investigation of the death of Ms. Morris, which remains open, to this point has been fair and proper.” (page 10).

Regardless of the Police Advisory Commissions investigation, what happened in those few crucial minutes from when Nizah was dropped off by the officer and when she was found on the street remains a mystery and as such, her homicide case unsolved. United States Representative Bob Brady is urging Philadelphia’s new Police Commissioner, Charles Ramsey to pursue the resolution of this case. The loss of her police file is a major blow to the solving of this case and one that local community activists are planning to organize around.

You are encouraged to continue checking in on the BGMLC website as we will post information about any community response that will transpire as a result of these new developments.

For more information on Nizah view these links:

Nizah Morris Wikipedia Entry

Police Advisory Commission Page on Nizah’s Ruling

LGBT Hate Crimes Project