Rita Hester
John Freda
Rita Hester was born on November 30th, 1963.
Rita’s younger sister, Diana told NBC News that Rita never had particular “coming out” moment. "I kind of always knew, just the very feminine ways that she was and everything," she said, adding that her family embraced her sister's transition.
In her early 20s, Rita moved to Boston from Hartford, Connecticut to find community and make her transition permanent.
According to her friends, Rita frequently traveled to Greece for vacation, and kept a cat and boa constructor as pets on her first-floor apartment on Park Vale Avenue in Boston's Allston neighborhood
On November 28th, 1998, police officers responded to a call from Rita’s next-door neighborhood about a fight in her apartment.
Police officers found Rita on the floor, alive but bleeding profusely after being stabbed 20 times.
There was an hour delay between when Police arrived and when she was taken to Beth Israel Hospital, where she died of cardiac arrest.
Rita’s murder happened just two months after the murder of another Black trans woman in Massachusetts, Monique Thomas.
In many and most news reports following her death, Rita was viciously and cruelly misgendered, slandered, and shown little respect.
This lead a group of 50 people to march from Boston Herald headquarters to Bay Windows' offices to protest, both news organizations were guilty of misgendering Rita in their reports, amongst other offenses.
In November 1999, Gwendolyn Ann Smith, Nancy Nangeroni, and Jahaira DeAlto started Transgender Day of Remembrance to honor the memory of Rita and another Black trans women that had also been murdered in Massachusetts three years before Rita, Chanelle Pickett.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is now held on November 20th, the anniversary of Chanelle’s death.
Rita’s murder remains unsolved.
The Boston Police Department reopened the case surrounding Rita’s death in 2006 and in 2023 they assigned a new detective to the case, stating, “The Boston Police Unsolved Homicide Unit is actively reviewing the facts and circumstances surrounding this murder.”
Rita Hester's Murder and the Language of Respect
Her death sparked Transgender Day of Remembrance. 22 years later, still no answers.
Boston police recommit to solving murder of Rita Hester, whose death inspired Transgender Day of Remembrance