Trans teenager, only 17, fatally shot ‘at point-blank range in the head’ in Brazil

A trans teenager just 17-years-old was shot in Sergipe, Brazil, in what is a grisly reminder of life in the deadliest country in the world to be trans.

Gabbi Mattos was fatally shot in the early hours of Saturday (19 February) in Aracaju, the capital of the northeast state, the Military Police fo Sergipe said.

Officials said that the teen was slain outside the Orlinha do Bairro Industrial, a beachside district along the Sergpipe River. As two armed individuals scuffled at a party nearby, the two began to shoot at one another.

And a stray bullet struck Mattos, killing her instantly, the Department of Homicide and Protection of the Person, of the Civil Police of the State of Sergipe, confirmed to A8S Sergpipe, a local news outlet.

Activists, however, say otherwise.

They alleged that nearby restaurant and police surveillance cameras were “not working,” meaning that no footage was caught of the incident – but a reported witness video showed one of the armed individuals running towards the teen to shoot her at “point-blank range in the head“.

Another witness told Linda Brasil, the first trans woman elected to the Aracaju city council, that the two people exchanging fire at the scene rode a black motorcycle. One was described as having a black moustache.