Gender nonconforming Chicagoan Dominic Dupree (also known as Dominic Palace) was shot to death October 13 in his vehicle in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood. They were 25.
In an email statement to this publication, the Chicago Police Department Office of Communications said, "An unidentified victim, inside a vehicle in the alley at [the 7800 block of South Jeffery], sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the body by an unknown offender. The victim was pronounced on[the] scene. No one is in custody at this time. Area Two detectives are investigating.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's offices stated that Dupree's death has been ruled a homicide after an autopsy was completed the following day.
Dupree's murder marks the 32nd reported instance of a trans or gender nonconforming person who has died by violent means in 2023. Of those 32 violent deaths, 24 have been trans people of color and of that number, 17 have been a Black person.
According to multiple social media accounts, Dupree was born in Indianapolis and later moved to Gary, where they attended school, including at 21st Century Charter School and Thea Bowman Leadership Academy. Before moving to Chicago, Dupree founded and operated two businessesPrivate Protection Division LLC and Hondo IC Lawncare and Snow Removal LLC.
Dupree's family has set up a GoFundMe page gofundme.com/f/martell-dominic-dupree-woods to help defray the funeral costs. Note: this page uses Dupree's name that was assigned at birth alongside their chosen name, as well as male pronouns.