Amber Monroe was 20 when she was fatally shot on the morning of August 8, 2015, in Detroit. The shooting happened around 5 a.m. as she was getting out of a vehicle near 6 Mile and Woodward in the Palmer Park area. The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office determined she died from a single gunshot wound and Detroit police opened a homicide investigation.

Authorities released surveillance footage of the vehicle Monroe was in before the shooting and asked the public for help. Friends described her as outgoing and charismatic, with a love of dancing; they and community advocates said they believed she may have been targeted because she was a Black transgender woman. Reports note she had survived two prior shootings.