On the night of August 2, 2024, Vanity Williams, a 34-year-old Black transgender woman and Air Force veteran, was fatally shot in the lobby of her apartment building at 1711 Caroline Street in downtown Houston. Houston Police officers responded to a shooting call about 11:10 p.m., found Williams unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds, and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.

Williams had recently begun nursing school and hoped to open a medical spa. She was known for a vibrant personality, fluency in Spanish and Japanese, and a passion for makeup, nail art, and fashion. Friends described her as loyal and someone who made a safe space for others.

Investigators identified 26-year-old Tristian Sanders as the suspect; he fled Houston and was located in Luling, Louisiana. On August 9, 2024, a SWAT team arrested Sanders without incident at a residence in the 600 Block of Lac Verret Drive. He was charged with murder and booked into the St. Charles Parish Jail, awaiting extradition to Harris County, Texas.

Williams was at least the 25th known violent killing of a transgender or gender-expansive person in the United States in 2024. Does anyone have information about Vanity Williams or her life in Houston that could help the record?