Jasmine ‘Star’ Mack Stabbed in Washington, DC

Jasmine “Star” Mack, 36, was pronounced dead at 3:10 a.m. on Sunday, January 7, after being found “in an unconscious and unresponsive state with an apparent stab wound to (her) right leg.” She was found on the 2000 block of Gallaudet Street NE, and pronounced dead on the scene. The block where she was found was in the Ivy City neighborhood and was two blocks from several popular nightclubs. According to police, it is unclear why she was in the area, as she had no fixed address at the time of her murder, and her last known address was about a mile away. Police classified her death as a homicide.

Mack’s death shocked the community who knew her. Friend Earline Budd remembered her as being high-spirited. She “would always keep you laughing.” Budd also says, “The violence has to stop, we are killing us.”

Her sister, Pamela Witherspoon, made a statement directed at her killer: “We forgive you, but please turn yourself in.” She said she would miss her sister dearly. “Most of all, I’m going to miss her saying ‘I love you sister, I love you.’”

Mohammad Mobaidin, who runs a mosque in the Ivy City neighborhood, remembered Mack would often stop by when the mosque was handing out food and clothing. “She was very polite and would thank us, say ‘God bless you’ and all of that,” he told TV station WUSA. “She was really, really nice, polite, and I don’t think she deserved what happened to her.”

Mack’s death is the first reported violent death of a trans person in 2023, but comes after a year in which at least 36 trans people died in violent ways. This number is likely an understatement, as many trans victims of violence are deadnamed and misgendered in reports.

Anyone with information regarding the death of Jasmine “Star” Mack can call (202) 727-9099 or submit an anonymous tip by texting 50411. A reward of up to $25,000 is offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this homicide case.