Koko Da Doll, a black transgender woman, who was featured in the award-winning 2023 Sundance Film Festival documentary "Kokomo City" was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday. She was 35. According to police, the sex worker, whose real name is Rasheeda Williams, was found from a "gunshot wound."
Koko's body was found on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in the Southwest part of the city, according to the Deadline. According to the report, when police arrived at the scene, Koko was "not alert, conscious or breathing." She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have now launched an investigation into her death.
Mysterious Death
Police believe Williams was murdered and have launched an investigation. According to police, when cops arrived, they found Koko "unconscious" with an "apparent gunshot wound." However, they are yet to name a suspect in the shooting death of Koko.
"Homicide investigators responded to the scene and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident," police wrote in the statement. "The investigation continues."
No other details have been provided by Atlanta police. They did not give the victim's name, but according to Kokomo City director D. Smith and another woman who appears in the documentary, the victim was Williams.
Williams is a well-known member of the transgender community in Atlanta. She is best known for her role in the acclaimed documentary "Kokomo City," which had its world premiere this past January at the Sundance Film Festival.
The movie tracked the lives of Koko and three other African-American trans sex workers in Atlanta and New York City in order to raise awareness on the under-reported issue of violence and discrimination experienced by trans people in the black community.
Star in Her Own Right
After the film's premiere, Williams thanked the director and singer D. Smith for giving her a platform to share her experience. "I will be the reason there's more opportunities and doors opening for transgender girls," the sex worker wrote on Instagram in January. "What you've done here for me is going to save a lot of lives."
The news of Williams' death has left the cast and crew of "Kokomo City's" devastated.
"Rasheeda, aka Koko Da Doll, was the latest victim of violence against Black transgender women," "Kokomo City" director D. Smith said in a statement, according to a report in Variety.
"I created 'Kokomo City' because I wanted to show the fun, humanized, natural side of Black trans women. I wanted to create images that didn't show the trauma or the statistics of murder of Transgender lives. I wanted to create something fresh and inspiring. I did that. We did that! But here we are again."
"She will inspire generations to come and will never be forgotten," the songwriter said.
In an Instagram post, fellow "Kokomo City" star Daniella Carter, "Never thought I'd lose you, but here I am standing alone without you by my side we're sisters for life we promised, but now you're gone I don't know what to do without you I'm going crazy, I'm trying to hold on to keep strong..."
