Lea Daye
Photograph of Lea, obtained from cleveland.com.
Lea Rayshon Daye was born on May 7th, 1992 and died on August 30, 2020. From Cleveland, Ohio, Lea leaves behind her mother, Felicia Daye; her aunt, Sherika Clark; seven siblings; and many other family members and friends. Lea worked at the City Mission homeless shelter in Cleveland, and she loved listening to Rihanna and Aaliyah, dressing up and going out, and spending time with family and friends. Her aunt Sherika spoke fondly of their fun memories together, saying, “We always liked to go out and get cocktails.”
Lea was only 28 years old when she passed away at Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland, where she had been since May 2020. When Lea’s mother went to pick up her daughter’s belongings at the facility after her death, she found a letter Lea had written about the conditions at the facility. Lea, who was a transgender woman, included in a letter a description of the transphobic judge who sentenced her, saying that he made “blatantly bigoted comments” in court. Lea also wrote that those residing there often had to wait three hours to receive cold food in small portions, remarking, “I think a six year old would have ate more than that.” She mentioned that they did not have “proper cleaning supplies” and that laundry usually would not be done for two weeks, saying, “these conditions have gotten even more out of control due to the [COVID-19] quarantine.” Lea’s letter highlights the unacceptable living conditions people are facing in facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasizes the need for immediate change.
Lea’s death and subsequent misgendering by officials at the Cuyahoga County Jail have rightly caused national outrage. Organizations including The Coalition to Stop the Inhumanity at the Cuyahoga County Jail, Equality Ohio, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, and the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland have spoken out about the injustice of Lea’s death. Tori Cooper, the Director of Community Engagement for the Human Rights Campaign’s Transgender Justice Initative, called Lea’s death “unacceptable,” saying, “increased risk factors such as homelessness, combined with racism, sexism, and transphobia, conspired to lead to a death that never should have happened.” Eliana Turan, Director of Development at the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, spoke about the harmful effects of misgendering people, especially after one’s death, as misgendering “represents a form of character assassination after the individual is gone from this world and they don’t have the opportunity to even push back against that.” A virtual press conference was held on September 4th to mourn Lea’s tragic death.
The injustices of Lea’s death speak volumes about the conditions at prisons across the nation, especially as conditions worsen from the COVID-19 pandemic. Lea was a caring, passionate soul with a big heart who left the world far too soon. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her. May she rest in peace.
This memorial was written by MOL team member Claire Lee with information from reporting by Adam Ferrise of cleveland.com, Madeleine Roberts of Human Rights Campaign, WKYC staff of WKYC studios, Trudy Ring of Advocate, a video by Ravenovah, a report from Transgender Day of Remembrance, Sam Allard of Cleveland Scene, and a blog post by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.
