In connection with the deadly shooting of Asia Davis, a 34-year-old trans Black woman, an 18-year-old Highland Park man was detained.
Carlos Lamar Scotland, 18, is facing four charges, including first-degree murder and felony weapons, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced in a media meeting Friday. Davis, who is also a resident of Highland Park, was discovered dead in a hotel room in the summer of 2023 with a bullet wound to her head, causing an investigation by Michigan State Police.
Highland Park Police officers were called to a resort on Woodward Avenue on June 1 at about 11 p.m. for a reported killing. Upon arrival, officers found Davis inside a hotel room. Scotland, who was a minor at the time of the affair, reportedly shot Davis and fled the scene. Worthy cited concerns for the safety of the case as well as potential motives that might have led to the killing or the specific nature of Scotland and Davis’ relationship.
At the time, Davis had just finished nursing school and was on the course of a fresh career, according to the attorney’s office. She was regarded as a kind and sympathetic woman, Worthy said.
“Back in 2016, I was concerned and really lost sleep because of the common notion of Detroit”, Worthy said. There were numerous unsolved deaths of transgender women of color. No one seemed to worry at all. Everything was actually being done. No one was really investigating, and their lifestyles seem to matter to no one”.
The Fair Michigan Justice Foundation was born out of this. The business is a collaboration between lawyers’ agencies and law enforcement in Wayne, Ingham, Oakland, and Washtenaw districts that focuses on campaigning and knowledge of LGBTQ+ and children’s civil rights in Michigan. The trial is being led by Fair Michigan special counsel Kam Towns in Davis’ event.
“Having worked (at the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office) for 30 years before I took this job, I have a general sense of homicide rates in general, but specifically to the LGBTQ community, I can’t really address that”, Towns said. “I may say this, I feel like people are more audacious. They don’t hide in the shadows as much as they once did when they pursue LGBTQ members. I’ve seen that they feel more inspired and more free to act in a way that they normally wouldn’t in a change.
Davis is one of at least 32 transgender and “gender broad” people who fell prey to dangerous violent crimes in 2023 in the United States, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Black trans women made up the other half of those 32 victims.
Scotland is facing charges of first-degree murder, felony weapons, carrying a concealed weapon, and resisting and obstructing a police officer. While Scotland was a minor at the time of the affair, he will be charged as an adult, Worthy said.
His probable cause hearing is scheduled for March 26.
