| Legal Name | Victoria Carmen White | City | Newark | ||
| Other Names Used | State | NJ | |||
| Age | 29 | Gender Identity | Transwoman | ||
| Race | Black | Date of Death | 09/12/2010 |
Crime Category: Altercation | Weapon Used: Gun | Hate Crime
On September 12th, 2010, in Newark, NJ, Carmen, as she preferred to be called, was shot three times in her cousin’s apartment by a man she met at a club that night. When he found out she was transgender, he became enraged and killed her.
The case was very complicated. Carmen and her cousin and a friend met two men, Marquise Foster, 26, and Alrashim Chambers, 25, at an Irvington nightclub. They went back to her cousin’s studio apartment. Carmen and Alrashim began to get intimate and the two women went into the bathroom and shut the door.
Report: “The women, Sharon White — the victim’s cousin — and Natasha Wray, said they went into the bathroom to give the couple some privacy. “They were hugging on each other,” Sharon White said on direct examination.
When the bathroom door briefly swung open at one point, the women saw White leaning against Chambers, with her shirt partially pulled up. “I yelled to my cousin, was she good,” Sharon White testified. “She said she was ok.”
A few moments later, the women heard a man yell, ‘You a dude?!’ and then gun shots. The women did not see the incident.
Location: 159 Jacoby Street in Maplewood, Newark, NJ, at about 5:00 a.m.
Personal Information:
Per reports, Carmen, “was a lingerie model who had sex reassignment surgery a decade earlier in Thailand and had legally changed her name from James White.”
A Tribute page posted: “She touched so many lives and so many looked up to her and were inspired by her. She taught us how to live our life to the fullest and how to push drama out of it. She was the sweetest person and would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. She was always generous with her money, even though sometimes she just shouldn’t have been.
She was always caring and worrying about others and making sure her loved ones had what they needed.”
Murder Suspects:
Marquise Foster (Jahod Smith) | Age: 26
Convicted: pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension in exchange for his planned testimony against Chambers.
Sentence: 5 years considered already served.
His plea deal, which was merged with a previous gun possession guilty plea on a different case, called for a 5-year-flat prison sentence.
Case Information: SBI: 807911C | 10007456
Alrashim N. Chambers | Age: 25
Acquitted of all charges.
The jury in Superior Court in Newark announced its verdict at 11 a.m., after more than five hours of deliberations over two days.
The jury found Chambers, of Newark, not guilty of murder, bias intimidation and two weapons offenses.
Note: New Jersey does not provide online court case records prior to 2017.
Both men were charged with murder, and they were the only witnesses to the crime. Foster took a plea deal in exchange for testifying against Chambers.
Report: “Foster, 26, said Chambers had been hugging and kissing White that evening, but became enraged when he suspected she was a man.
“You a dude?” Foster claimed Chambers shouted at White. Three gunshots followed seconds later, he said. The .22-caliber handgun allegedly used in the killing was never recovered.”
Continued: “Chambers, who took the stand Wednesday as the only witness for the defense, denied having anything to do with the killing, and essentially painted Foster as the gunman. Chambers claimed he had stepped out of the Maplewood apartment to retrieve marijuana from his car when he heard the gunshots.”
Prosecutors agreed that the victim’s gender identity was the sole reason for the murder.
UPDATE:
On May 27, 2017, Chambers (now 32) shot and killed 22-year-old Rajaee Montgomery in a dispute over a car sale.
He was convicted on September 25th, 2019, and sentenced to 50 years in prison.
News Timeline: 09/12/2010 | 09/13/2010 | 06/11/2011 | 04/30/2012 | 05/16/2012 | 05/18/2012 | 05/23/2012 | 05/25/2012 | 06/07/2012 | 09/28/2019
Bleiberg, E. (2010, September 13). Maplewood Murder Victim Was a Transgender Female – Victoria Carmen White. Montclair Local. https://montclairlocal.news/2010/09/maplewood-murder-victim-transgender-female/
Friedman, A. (2011, June 20). Newark man indicted on murder and intimidation of transgender woman – Victoria Carmen White. NJ.Com. https://www.nj.com/news/2011/06/newark_man_indicted_on_murder.html
Friedman, A. (2012a, April 30). Trial to begin for Newark man accused of killing transgender lingerie model in Maplewood apartment – Victoria Carmen White. NJ.Com. https://www.nj.com/news/2012/04/trial_to_begin_for_newark_man.html
Friedman, A. (2012b, May 16). Cousin of transgender woman fatally shot in Maplewood testifies that suspect was in apartment – Victoria Carmen White. NJ.Com. https://www.nj.com/news/2012/05/cousin_of_transgender_woman_fa.html
Friedman, A. (2012c, May 18). Friend testifies against defendant in death of transgender N.J. woman – Victoria Carmen White. NJ.Com. https://www.nj.com/news/2012/05/friend_testifies_against_defen.html
Friedman, A. (2012d, May 23). Accused killer tells court he had no idea victim was transgender N.J. woman – Victoria Carmen White. NJ.Com. https://www.nj.com/news/2012/05/accused_killer_tells_court_he.html
Friedman, A. (2012e, May 25). Newark man found not guilty in killing of Maplewood transgender woman – Victoria Carmen White. NJ.Com. https://www.nj.com/news/2012/05/newark_man_found_not_guilty_in.html
Friedman, A. (2012f, June 7). Man sentenced to time served in Maplewood transgender killing – Victoria Carmen White. NJ.Com. https://www.nj.com/news/2012/06/man_sentenced_to_time_served_i.html
Galant, D. (2010, September 12). Homicide in Maplewood, Details Sketchy – Victoria Carmen White. Montclair Local. https://montclairlocal.news/2010/09/homicide-in-maplewood-details-sketchy/
Gieseke, W. (2011, June 21). N.J. Man Indicted in Transgender Murder – Victoria Carmen White. Advocate. https://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2011/06/21/nj-man-indicted-transgender-murder
Mann, M. (2010, September 20). A Tribute to Victoria Carmen White. Patch. https://patch.com/new-jersey/maplewood/a-tribute-to-victoria-carmen-white
One Of Victoria Carmen White’s Suspected Killers Turns Himself In – Victoria Carmen White. (2010, October 25). Queerty. https://www.queerty.com/one-of-victoria-carmen-whites-suspected-killers-turns-himself-in-20101025
CNN Wire Staff. (2010, October 24). Suspect in transgender killing turns himself in – Victoria Carmen White. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/24/new.jersey.transgender.killing/index.html
Cohen, N. (2019, September 28). He fired at a fleeing man, killing him over a car worth $2,500. A judge gave him 50 years behind bars. – Victoria Carmen White. NL.Com. https://www.nj.com/essex/2019/09/he-fired-at-a-fleeing-man-killing-him-over-a-car-worth-2500-a-judge-gave-him-50-years-behind-bars.html
Marquise Foster – Case: 10007456 – 10.13.2010 – Victoria Carmen White (October 13, 2010).
NJ Department of Corrections. (2019, December 15). Offender Details – Alrashim N Chambers – Victoria Carmen White. State of New Jersey Department of Corrections. https://www-doc.state.nj.us/DOC_Inmate/details?x=1554045&n=0
Images are publicly available through public sources, personal posts, family members and information websites as well as stills from cited videos and news websites. Images are digitally enhanced for artistic purposes. All information is accurate to the best of the author’s knowledge at time of publishing. Updates will be made as needed.
