London Price. (Screenshot via the Human Rights Campaign/Facebook)
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. | Local authorities arrested and charged Anthony Quinn Peyton with second-degree murder Oct. 31 in connection to the murder of London Price, a trans woman who was fatally shot Oct. 23.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, Price’s death is the 25th known violent killing of a transgender or gender nonconforming person in 2023. The 26-year-old Floridian was described by her aunt as “always beautiful and pretty” and someone who would “give you the shirt off her back.”
Equality Florida shared the news Oct. 25, noting that the organization is working with transgender leaders in South Florida to connect with Price’s family. “Our hearts are with London’s family and friends as they grieve and seek justice during this difficult time,” they noted.
According to South Florida ABC affiliate WPLG Local 10, Peyton has been identified as Price’s ex-boyfriend and was arrested in Fort Lauderdale.
“Surveillance video captured the moments after the fatal shooting on Oct. 23 outside an apartment on Northwest 93rd Street,” they reported. “A man is seen running from the crime scene with a gun in his hand.”
“London had so many friends and family members who loved her but are now filled with grief following her tragic killing,” HRC Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative Tori Cooper said in a press release. “We must stop the epidemic of violence targeting transgender and non-binary people and the national crisis of gun violence and. This crisis is especially treacherous for Black and Brown transgender women.”
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The organization also noted that London is the fifth transgender or gender non-conforming person to be killed in Oct. 2023. Transgender Day of Remembrance, the annual observance honoring lives lost in acts of anti-transgender violence, is Nov. 20; a vigil for Price will be held ahead of time at the TDoR Memorial Tree of Pride Park in Miami Beach on Nov. 2, organized by The McKenzie Project and other organizations.
In a press release Oct. 28, the Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus said Price’s murder is “the type of violence tacitly encouraged” by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the State Legislature. Florida enacted a number of anti-LGBTQ+ laws this year, many of which specifically targeted trans Floridians.
“Whether anti-transgender violence, gun violence or other expressions of bigotry it must stop,” Florida LBGTQ+ Democratic President Nathan Bruemmer said. “Our governor constantly attempts to marginalize transgender and non binary Floridians. Our governor and the legislature put together laws that say it’s OK to discriminate, and in their speeches they’ve suggested that we’re not worthy of respect or protection.
“Indeed, they have stood with right wing figures who use religion to call for direct violence,” he continued. “And they’ve passed laws that make guns more available to those who would commit crimes like the murder of London Price.”
WPLG reported that Peyton is being held at the Broward County Main Jail.
