Transgender Woman Accused of Murdering Her Father

A disturbing story about the fatal stabbing of a Brooklyn man by his daughter, Nikki Secondino, is the latest crime by a trans woman to be picked up by the tabloid press.

by Evan Urquhart

A trend that seems to be on the rise in transphobic and conservative-leaning media is to highlight crimes committed by trans women. The latest of these is the disturbing story of Nikki Secondino, a 22-year-old who has allegedly confessed to murdering her father, Carlo Secondino, and seriously injuring her sister, Liana. Nikki Secondino is accused of having assaultef her father with a hammer, then stabbing him to death and stabbing her younger sister when she tried to stop her.

Details of the story suggest a chaotic family life and hint that past violence and/or mental illness may have played a role in the deeply tragic events.

Transgender people are far more likely than others to be the victims of violent crime. They are also more likely to be incarcerated than cisgender folks. An oft-repeated claim by people who oppose transgender people’s equality is that trans women retain a “male pattern” of criminality. This is based on a Swedish study that followed trans people who transitioned between 1973 and 2003. The results of that one study, which have yet to be replicated, are best viewed with some skepticism, taking into account the fact that members of highly stigmatized minorities often have more dealings with the criminal justice system, live lives more likely to be clouded by violence, that trans people often turn to survival sex work due to discrimination in hiring, and that poverty, which is much higher for trans people, is also highly correlated with crime.